Everything we know about Leeds United’s Elland Road expansion after new ‘planning application’ development revealed
Leeds United to submit planning application for Elland Road expansion as new capacity revealed
Senior members of Leeds City Council are to be briefed on a South Leeds regeneration project which includes the development of Leeds United’s Elland Road stadium.
A Leeds United planning application to expand the club’s Elland Road home to 56,500 capacity is ‘imminent’, according to Leeds City Council.
It is proposed 30 acres of council-owned land adjacent to the existing Elland Road site would be in line for regeneration with the intention of boosting the local economy, should a deal be agreed between senior council figures and the club.
Who are the Lowy Family Group?
Leeds majority owners 49ers Enterprises have made stadium enhancement one of their core ambitions at Elland Road. The council’s executive board will be asked at an upcoming meeting regarding the South Leeds project ‘to approve [entering] a Memorandum of Understanding with the Leeds United’s development partner Lowy Family Group (LFG).’
Heir to the Westfield retail empire, co-chief executive of the property group Peter Lowy sits on the Leeds board of directors and is a principal of the LFG.
Peter Lowy said: "We welcome the formation of this strategic relationship with Leeds City Council to explore opportunities for the regeneration of this vital part of the city. We’re looking forward to working together with Leeds City Council to regenerate south Leeds, improving the lives of people who live here and driving forward our ambitions for Elland Road.”
49ers Enterprises have already committed £10 million towards the planning approval process, with architects, structural engineers and other specialists consulted on the prospective build.
What have Leeds United said about Elland Road expansion?
“Our goal is to expand Elland Road,” chairman Paraag Marathe said at the Financial Times Business of Football Summit earlier this year. “There will probably be a couple of phases that ultimately take us to 53,000. The first phase will likely be 47,000 then up to 53,000. Of paramount importance is to keep the cauldron and electricity of the stadium the same as it is today. Elland Road is a stadium managers and players of other clubs don’t like playing at. It’s been called a cauldron and a hurricane of noise.
“It is really important for us to get more of our supporters into the stadium, and make it even more difficult for other clubs to come and play in, but we want to preserve some of the magic of what Elland Road is. We have done a lot of the pre-development work, in picking architects and working with the local council. There are probably some announcements to come and I am really excited about that,” Marathe added.
Leeds City Council’s meeting announced
Council leader James Lewis says the local authority is keen to support Leeds in their development ambitions.
“From a wider perspective, the regeneration of the Elland Road area also represents one of the city’s most exciting development opportunities for a generation, which would revitalise a huge area of Leeds and potentially bring hundreds of millions of pounds into our local economy,” Lewis said, via a Leeds City Council statement.
The council’s executive board is scheduled to meet later this month on Wednesday, April 23.
United are known to have a lengthy season ticket waiting list and enhancing supporter experience is at the top of the club’s list of priorities regarding stadium expansion.
What will happen at Elland Road during reconstruction?
Leeds have enlisted the assistance and expertise of Ben Allen from Elevate to lead a ‘feasibility study into stadium redevelopment’. The company are said to be experienced in consulting with supporters, stakeholders and market developments on similar projects in the United States and Europe.
Allen will be tasked with understanding ‘current matchday limitations’ and how to address them during the redevelopment process.
Elland Road is situated in a location primed for stadium development with three sides of the existing ground able to be built on without civil disruption. The A643 (Elland Road) which runs adjacent to the stadium’s Norman Hunter South Stand does pose a potential redevelopment issue on that side of the ground, however.
Leeds are unlikely to materially start work on redevelopment until Premier League membership has been reinstated, which relies on the team’s on-field performance levels being maintained for the remainder of the season. The club are currently top of the Championship table on goal difference, but could fall to third depending on results this weekend.
The view from Leeds United writer Graham Smyth
“It's difficult for them to put a timeframe on something when it largely is Premier League dependent,” YEP chief football writer Graham Smyth told the Inside Elland Road podcast earlier this season. “I don't see them increasing the capacity to 53,000 until Leeds are a Premier League club. I just don't see it. You can do all the work in the background and get it ready. So they don't have to do the work straight away but they can get everything ready to go so it’s literally Premier League football - go, start digging.”
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