Councillors have been recommended to approve the sale of Swindon Town FC’s County Ground to allow for a £22.5 million redevelopment of the stadium.
Swindon Borough Council’s cabinet will decide at its March 16 meeting whether to approve the £2.3m sale of the council-owned site to County Ground Stadium Custodians Trust Ltd, a joint venture (JV) between the club and Swindon Town Community Mutual Ltd which is made up of around 2,200 fans of the club.
The JV would, in turn, let the stadium to the club on a 250-year lease.
As part of the deal, a phased programme of work would begin in 2024 with redevelopment of the Stratton Bank, followed by corporate boxes being added to the Don Rogers Stand between 2024 and 2027 and the £20m new Town End conference centre and hotel being added between 2026 and 2027.
The council will have the option to buy back the stadium if the works are not started within three years.
The sale had originally been approved in 2019 but an ownership battle at the club prevented it going ahead with then chairman Lee Power involved in a legal dispute.
The deal has resurfaced under the chairmanship of Clem Morfuni who took over in July 2021.
Image: Berswin, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.
© Thames Tap (powered by ukpropertyforums.com).
Sign up to receive your free weekly Thames Tap journal here.
