Stamford Bridge
(Picture: REUTERS)Bidders for Chelsea have been warned that any plans for a major redevelopment of its Stamford Bridge home must be “sympathetic to local residents” to have a chance of winning consent from the local council.
Stephen Cowan, leader of Hammersmith and Fulham council, said in a letter to Premier League boss Richard Masters and Culture Secretary Nadine Dorries the authority would welcome a proposal that “secured exemplar design, was sympathetic to local residents, and fulfilled expectations of fans”.
Final offers for Chelsea have to be in place by Monday, with US merchant bank Raine Group hoping to put forward their preferred bidder to the Treasury by April 18.
The letter said it hoped the new owners “come not only with an unblemished record, but with a continued commitment to its local community as much as its on-field success”.
The marker laid down by the Labour-controlled authority came as one bidder, the Ricketts family, owners of the Chicago Cubs baseball team, said they would immediately begin work on redeveloping the stadium if they win the race to buy the club. The Standard revealed this week that the Ricketts have already enlisted architects so they can “hit the ground running” if they are successful.
They plan to replace the current 41,500-seater stadium with a new venue that would be “the best” if not the biggest in the Premier League.
However, any scheme would first have to clear the planning process. The council approved Roman Abramovich’s plans for a 60,000-seater stadium in 2017 but it was shelved a year later when his visa renewal was delayed in the wake of the Salisbury poisoning of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal.
Three other consortia remain in the running, one led by former BA chief Sir Martin Broughton and Lord Coe, and backed by US billionaires Josh Harris and David Blitzer, owners of the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team.
A second consortium headed by Todd Boehly, part-owner of the LA Dodgers, also involves property entrepreneur Jonathan Goldstein. The final contender is a bid led by Stephen Pagliuca, an American private equity billionaire who owns the Boston Celtics and Atalanta in Serie A.
