Falastur said:
ColinLee said:
Considering that's what's rumoured for the collar site I'd find that unlikely. I like the idea of relocating the tennis courts etc. giving us more wriggle room on the collar site. This development just keeps looking bigger and bigger.
Why would that make it unlikely? If you owned a big square of real estate, and you heard that the land all around it was going to be turned into a huge leisure destination, would you not seek to capitalise on the idea by building a complementary leisure attraction? You know that thousands, perhaps millions a year are going to be coming to your site, and the average tourist is not going to care, or even know, where the land City owns ends and yours begins. It's like you're being offered free money. The wisest thing would be to build something - anything - to capitalise from all the interest. A hotel, maybe, or a shopping centre filled with clothes outlets, fast food and electronics. Anything, really. And any money you draw in, and any tourist hours spent in your facilities, are money and tourist hours which are not going into City's pockets.
The Walmart plot is owned by MCC and leased to Walmart, isn't it? Presumably
if there is a deal of the type fbloke puts forward, it will involve Walmart surrendering the lease and the plot reverting to MCC, with Walmart receiving an alternative plot that's more advantageous in some way (would support a bigger store, would be better located in terms of the revised area traffic plan that'll be in effect once the collar site is operational or whatever).
Given that MCC and MCFC have created a joint venture company with a view to collaborating in developing the Etihad Campus and land in the adjacent area, if the Walmart plot were to revert to MCC, it would be rather strange if it weren't then made available to the JV company if MCFC wanted that. MCFC are in the process of transforming this area and are backed by an owner who's a royal and government minister in the country with the world's second biggest sovereign wealth fund. It's beyond MCC's dreams to have a party like that involved in regenerating East Manchester and they won't piss the club off. If it's developed by someone other than the JV in which MCFC are the major party, it will be because MCFC are content with that, and MCC will ensure that whatever goes up on that site will be something that MCFC are happy to have on a next-door plot.
Falastur said:
ColinLee said:
I posted on the
http://forums.bluemoon-mcfc.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=283989&start=670 thread but I don't think they're waiting to see what sales are like, I think they're convinced (as am I) that we'll sell them regardless. It's purely for logistical purposes. Don't forget that it's not being done purely to get more fans in, the commercial and corporate side are just as important if not more so from a revenue point of view.
Build the South Stand, relocate City Square and the shop(or is that located in the bottom of the South Stand, can't find the damn planning portal now) and then do the North Stand. The extra rows I think could be added at almost any time or maybe even scrap the idea.
I'm told the South Stand will be ready for the start of the 15/16 season so maybe start the North Stand at the end of that season?
Perhaps, but
why wouldn't City have announced that then? Why didn't the Club Statement say yesterday "we will be redeveloping the South Stand over the coming summer. We will then redevelop the North Stand the following summer." The club explicitly said that they would redevelop one end and that they had the permission to do others. I'm not sure why they would phrase it like that if it weren't that they were saying that they are waiting to see what the ticketing take-up is like once the new stand is built.
City don't announce things two years in advance, and early 2016 is about the earliest time they'll start on the North Stand given that the South will be completed in summer 2015 and we then have a Rugby World Cup game in the autumn. As we already know from experience, under this ownership MCFC don't like talking about things and building up expectations in advance; insofar as they can, they do things and then talk about them. They'll tell the world about the plans when those plans are going to be implemented, not before.
fbloke said:
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, or at the very least rumour or speculation, but there may well be an end in sight for ASDA.
Some early very conversations have been had, not including MCFC, on the suitability of the ASDA site for other uses.
Dont ask how I know but it came from the same route as the cyclo-cross info that also prove to be bang on the money.
I don't see how you could possibly think that you're bearing bad news when conveying this information. ;)
ColinLee said:
Manchester1894 said:
"not including mcfc" seems to be the important bit of that paragraph.
Best outcome: non-mcfc related activity on the collar site is moved over to the ASDA site(so the athletics stadium/gym tennis courts etc) into a new non-mcfc sporting development.
Worst outcome: ASDA is turned into a shopping centre/hotel/leisure development from an outside source.
My prediction: Trinity Mirror group will build the highest scaffold tower in the world to see over the youth stadium onto the training pictures.
Considering that's what's rumoured for the collar site I'd find that unlikely. I like the idea of relocating the tennis courts etc. giving us more wriggle room on the collar site. This development just keeps looking bigger and bigger.
I posted around a month ago reminding people the long-term idea as suggested a couple of years back in the Eastlands Regeneration Framework is that the land to the west of the stadium offers a compelling opportunity for eventual commercial development, in which case the athletics stadium could be relocated to the Beswick Hub on Grey Mare Lane. However, assuming fbloke's post is on the money here, maybe that has changed and the idea would be to keep the sports facilities over the road from MCFC's mini-stadium and training ground, inbetween that facility and the Velodrome/BMX Centre. There would at least be a certain logic in that.
The Eastlands Regeneration Framework can be downloaded here:
http://www.manchester.gov.uk/downloads/download/4502/eastlands_regeneration_framework As far as I understand, the aspirations set out in this document continue to hold good and it contains the following relevant passages on pages 27-28 (my emphasis):
North and West Of the Stadium Area
Detailed proposals must protect the long-term expansion
potential of the City of Manchester Stadium. The area to
the west and north of the stadium presents commercial
development opportunities, either for the Club itself or for
third parties.
The canal and Metrolink line and station provide a distinct
and attractive design and development opportunity,
perhaps of smaller scale and texture than exists to the
south and east at the `collar site’ or the potential sites to
the west of the stadium.
To the north of the canal are large parking areas serving
the sports facilities. Their redevelopment would require
some degree of parking replacement, potentially in multistorey
car parks.
More significantly, development of the area is heavily
influenced by the presence of gas holders and gas supply
lines to the north and west of the parking lots. In the
longer-term these facilities may be relocated, providing
an excellent, highly visible opportunity for a range of
commercial development activity.
The potential for substantial commercial development
opportunities on sites currently occupied by low-density
sports buildings such as the athletics arena and the
squash and tennis centres should be explored. Provided
commercially deliverable plans emerge that are capable
of supporting the relocation of these facilities, the
opportunity should also be explored to enhance the scale
of the sports and community hub centered on Grey Mare
Lane area of Beswick. The relocation of sports facilities
would provide large flexible sites on the western side
of the stadium for a wide range of high activity uses at
Eastlands, while ensuring the re-located facilities benefit
from improved accessibility and synergies with other
community uses in the immediate vicinity.
The Beswick Sports & Community Hub
The investment in football facilities on the east side of
Alan Turing Way, between Ashton Old and New Roads, and
the investment already made in the new East Manchester
Academy and Beswick Library on Grey Mare Lane,
represent transformative investments in the heart of East
Manchester. Significant public land ownership exists in
this area, presenting the opportunity to strengthen and
build upon the existing community cluster centred on the
academy. Many of the sports facilities currently located
to the west and north of the City of Manchester Stadium
should, over the longer-term, be relocated with a focus
on maximising community access to these facilities and
interaction between them. The cluster would be centred
in Beswick on Grey Mare Lane, extending south towards
Ashton Old Road and to sites to the east of Alan Turing
Way.
In other words, they're going nowhere at the moment, while the focus is on the expansion of the north and south ends of the stadium and the development of the collar site. However, in the longer term, once the collar site has been developed, attention is likely to turn to these areas. Facilities like the athletics stadium and tennis venue can't be abolished and nor would there be a wish to get rid of them: the aim is for East Manc to be a centre of sporting excellence and ditching facilities certainly isn't in line with that.
Obviously we're looking a long way into the future before anything like this happens. However, I think that we can expect eventually to see both the East and Colin Bell Stands expanded and to see a major commercial development on the land to the west of the stadium. Moving the athletics, tennis and squash facilities is likely to be a part of that process. The Beswick Hub is the stated likely destination for them if they are moved, but were the Walmart plot to become vacant, then it has potential attraction from this point of view if there's no intention to use it for something else that MCFC may prefer.
