Arsenal have finally persuaded a consortium of banks to lend them the £260m needed to complete the new 60,000 seat stadium at nearby Ashburton Grove. The club is taking on more debt - £285m at its height - than any other has done before. It will also be managing one of the country's urban regeneration schemes with all the problems of doing that in London and at a time when football finances are under scrutiny as never before.
An agreement has been signed with Sir Robert McAlpine at £220m 'fixed price' to build the stadium and a new waste recycling centre. The existing Highbury including the listed East Stand will be converted into housing. The new stadium may be known as New Highbury along the club would be prepared to selling the naming rights. The club is confident that with 34,000 on the waiting list for season tickets (my next door neighbour has been waiting for about seven years)they will easily fill the ground.
The club has said that the final compulsory purchase order will be completed next month, but local objectors are not finished with their opposition to the project yet. Owners of some of the businesses on Queensland Road, adjoining the stadium site, have promised to appeal to the High Court if John Prescott approves compulsory purchase orders against them. That could lead to a year's delay in Arsenal's ability to buy up the businesses, demolish them and redevelop the site. Opponents of the scheme have always claimed that the profits from building 228 residential apartments, offices and commercial space are crucial to Arsenal's finances. However, the club claims that the local council asked them to include Queensdown Road in their plans to regenerate a rundown area.
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