Leeds United pushes on with Elland Road plans

Leeds City Council will consider the football club’s potential expansion plans to increase the stadium to 56,500 capacity, believing it could unlock up to £1bn of investment into the area, and will be asked to approve entering into an MoU with the club’s development partner.

Current capacity at the venue is 37,645 and the most likely plan will be to expand first the West and then the North stand footprints. The expansion would likely extend into the former Matthew Murray school.

The proposed increase in seats would make it the seventh largest stadium in the country, and the council will hear how it could also be one of the most ‘shovel ready’ stadium-led regeneration projects in the UK.

Enabling works for construction of the West stand, subject to planning, could start this calendar year, with the first phase of stadium development potentially completing by 2028.

The report from Angela Barnicle, the director of city development underlines how an expansion of the stadium could optimise inclusive economic growth in the area, describing it as an ’emerging and nationally significant regeneration opportunity,’

Leeds United is expected to submit a formal planning application this year, and has already discussed the expansion with potential corporate hospitality sponsors, indicating that plans will be submitted around summertime.

The council, while not owning the stadium, has a vested interest as it owns 30 acres of brownfield land around the site.

The land is the council’s largest undeveloped landholding, with parts of it currently used for park-and-ride and drop-off facilities on match days.

A phased construction approach would be used to minimise loss of seating during the construction phases.

Elland Road sits amongst a corridor of regeneration projects in the area, including Heart of Holbeck, British Library North, Leeds Station, and of course, will be one of the stops on the Mass Transit tram service.

With better connectivity expected in the future, the council hopes Elland Road could become a ‘thriving 365-day-a-year destination’, and would ‘champion Leeds on a global stage.’

At its meeting next week, Leeds City Council will discuss potentially selling some of its land to Leeds United Football Club at market value so that it can expand the stadium, as well as how to develop the surrounding land.

Proposals suggest that LCC would enter into a memorandum of understanding with the Lowy Family Group, development partner of Leeds United owner the 49ers, to consider the overall regeneration strategy for LCC’s and LUFC-owned land.

Peter Lowy, one of the principals of LFG, is a Board member at LUFC and has also served as chief executive of Westfield Corporation, with a track record of major developments and investments including Westfield London and Westfield Stratford City.

LFG will likely, therefore, take the lead on wider Elland Road real estate matters and collaborate with the council on the overall regeneration potential and strategy.

Ultimately, although discussed by the Executive Board, the application will be passed or denied by the usual Plans panel.

The report notes that increasingly, clubs and local authorities are working in tandem to create ‘all year round’ destinations, with stadia at the heart.