Everton Stadium Development Limited (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Everton Football Club) and Peel Land and Property (Ports) Limited have formally signed an agreement for the Club to lease land at Bramley Moore Dock, Liverpool Waters.
The lease, which is conditional upon gaining planning consent for the proposed new stadium and securing funding for its construction, will run for a period of 200 years at a peppercorn rent.
The signing of the agreement is a significant milestone in the project and means Everton effectively now controls the land upon which a new stadium would be built. This follows several years of searching for a new site and is the culmination of an exhaustive search across the city.
Robert Elstone, Chief Executive at Everton Football Club said: “Clearly this is very positive news. Gaining control of the site was essential for us to be able to move forward with the next stages of the project – finalising the funding agreement with the Council and preparing for the submission of a planning application – both of which we hope to do in the New Year. I’d like to thank Peel as well as Mayor Anderson and his colleagues at the Council for their support in getting us to this point.”
The proposed new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock will be a catalyst for the £5.5bn regeneration proposals for North Liverpool which is set to be one of the largest and most transformational in the city’s history.
The stadium will help accelerate Peel Land and Property’s Liverpool Waters development – which stretches along Liverpool’s waterfront and is made up of five neighbourhoods. The new stadium at Bramley Moore Dock will be complemented by a host of leisure amenities and facilities to enhance the visitor experience. Plans also include two new river terminals – a new cruise liner facility as well as the Isle of Man ferry terminal – and a range of office and residential developments alongside a waterfront cultural complex.
Ian Pollitt, Assistant Project Director at Liverpool Waters, said: “2017 has been a landmark year for Liverpool Waters with a series of planning permissions granted for both Princes Dock and Central Dock, including the plans for a new cruise terminal and a collection of residential developments. We know that a world-class stadium, on the banks of the River Mersey, will act as a trigger for even more investment and jobs which will be of huge benefit to the whole city region. We’ve been working very closely with all partners to get to this stage and we’re excited to move on to the next phase of the project.”
CBRE, who are acting as advisers to Everton, estimate that a new stadium at Bramley Moore will provide a £1bn boost to the local economy, with a contribution of more than £900m to the region before the stadium is even completed.
The huge financial boost to Liverpool’s economy will see more than £255m spent through local supply chains during the construction phase and once completed, the creation of more than 15,000 jobs for local people and an annual boost to the city of £94m through hotel occupancy, retail and tourism.
Iain Jenkinson, Senior Director, Planning and Development at CBRE said: “This scheme is hugely significant, not just for Everton and for Peel’s Liverpool Waters project, but for the entire city region. The social and economic impact presented by this once-in-a-generation opportunity will be a game-changer for the city. And it’s a game-changer not only in terms of the measurable regeneration benefits to the city through jobs, supply chain contracts and all the other benefits associated with a large-scale project, but also through the unique ‘brand value’ that will be development will bring to the city through having what will become a globally recognised stadium on one of the world’s most famous and spectacular waterfronts.”
Peel was advised by Iain Gamble and Luke Taylor at Brabners on all property matters with Colette McCormack at Winckworth Sherwood advising on planning aspects of the deal.