General Stadium Disrepair

OX14 said:
How much will it cost the board members, to buy land within Oxfords boundaries, pay for all the legal and planning, construct a stadium and their money making facilities? 100 million maybe more I bet. The difference is the kassam is already usable and we could knock down a stand at a time and develop while we continue to play there, They have 5 years to develop a new piece of land unless the want another lease or ground share.
Click to expand...
But surely you can understand that a board member needs to get something back, that cannot happen by buying the Kassam. You need to see this project from a neutral point of view, through the eyes of an investor who would be trying to see how they can make a long term investment which will reap it's awards later in life, rather than a fan of the club who just desperately wants something to happen.

Buying a 20 year old stadium for an extortionate amount, then just flattening it and spending 2-3 times that amount building yet another stadium (or even just finishing and fixing the current one) with no further land for facilities than can make them money in the future...

Or working with the council to find some land where they can design their own stadium and surrounding projects so they can make their money back and provide for their families years down the line. I honestly cannot see where the benefit is to an investor going for your favoured scenario of buying the kassam...

It may appear the easiest option to a fan, just buy the Kassam, the stadium is already there right, just get the best price and we can all celebrate? But when you look into it further you see buying an old dilapidated stadium for 2-3 times it's actual value, with no room to gain anything out of it probably isn't their preferred option.

What will make the investors their money back through an Oxford United stadium? Well look at Kassam as an example... hotels, bowling alley, cinemas, sporting facilities, gyms, bingo?! The list goes on... where can that happen at Grenoble road? It can't, it's already there, it's already been done and Kassam won't give any of that away.

They would much rather spend more initially to gain land and build their perfect vision which will start repaying them in 20-30 years time, Grenoble Road can't do that.

I wouldn't be disappointed if we bought the Kassam by any means, so long money is pumped into and it's finished off. I enjoy drinking in the Bird and it's a quick jaunt to the Cowley Road after the game, but I really don't think that's what will happen if our board can help it. It'll be the last resort option if they can't find anywhere to relocate.
 
Last edited:
WuTang said:
But surely you can understand that a board member needs to get something back, that cannot happen by buying the Kassam. You need to see this project from a neutral point of view, through the eyes of an investor who would be trying to see how they can make a long term investment which will reap it's awards later in life, rather than a fan of the club who just desperately wants something to happen.

Buying a 20 year old stadium for an extortionate amount, then just flattening it and spending 2-3 times that amount building yet another stadium (or even just finishing and fixing the current one) with no further land for facilities than can make them money in the future...

Or working with the council to find some land where they can design their own stadium and surrounding projects so they can make their money back and provide for their families years down the line. I honestly cannot see where the benefit is to an investor going for your favoured scenario of buying the kassam...

It may appear the easiest option to a fan, just buy the Kassam, the stadium is already there right, just get the best price and we can all celebrate? But when you look into it further you see buying an old dilapidated stadium for 2-3 times it's actual value, with no room to gain anything out of it probably isn't their preferred option.

What will make the investors their money back through an Oxford United stadium? Well look at Kassam as an example... hotels, bowling alley, cinemas, sporting facilities, gyms, bingo?! The list goes on... where can that happen at Grenoble road? It can't, it's already there, it's already been done and Kassam won't give any of that away.

They would much rather spend more initially to gain land and build their perfect vision which will start repaying them in 20-30 years time, Grenoble Road can't do that.

I wouldn't be disappointed if we bought the Kassam by any means, so long money is pumped into and it's finished off. I enjoy drinking in the Bird and it's a quick jaunt to the Cowley Road after the game, but I really don't think that's what will happen if our board can help it. It'll be the last resort option if they can't find anywhere to relocate.
Click to expand...
A neat summary of exactly how our potential investors will be looking at this - Bravo.
 
WuTang said:
But surely you can understand that a board member needs to get something back, that cannot happen by buying the Kassam. You need to see this project from a neutral point of view, through the eyes of an investor who would be trying to see how they can make a long term investment which will reap it's awards later in life, rather than a fan of the club who just desperately wants something to happen.

Buying a 20 year old stadium for an extortionate amount, then just flattening it and spending 2-3 times that amount building yet another stadium (or even just finishing and fixing the current one) with no further land for facilities than can make them money in the future...

Or working with the council to find some land where they can design their own stadium and surrounding projects so they can make their money back and provide for their families years down the line. I honestly cannot see where the benefit is to an investor going for your favoured scenario of buying the kassam...

It may appear the easiest option to a fan, just buy the Kassam, the stadium is already there right, just get the best price and we can all celebrate? But when you look into it further you see buying an old dilapidated stadium for 2-3 times it's actual value, with no room to gain anything out of it probably isn't their preferred option.

What will make the investors their money back through an Oxford United stadium? Well look at Kassam as an example... hotels, bowling alley, cinemas, sporting facilities, gyms, bingo?! The list goes on... where can that happen at Grenoble road? It can't, it's already there, it's already been done and Kassam won't give any of that away.

They would much rather spend more initially to gain land and build their perfect vision which will start repaying them in 20-30 years time, Grenoble Road can't do that.

I wouldn't be disappointed if we bought the Kassam by any means, so long money is pumped into and it's finished off. I enjoy drinking in the Bird and it's a quick jaunt to the Cowley Road after the game, but I really don't think that's what will happen if our board can help it. It'll be the last resort option if they can't find anywhere to relocate.
Click to expand...
Completely agree that the asking price is ridiculous. The Kassam has no option to grow, so to ask £13.5 million is taking the pee.
 
Another issue, buying the Kassam Stadium does not include the Ozone (main) car park. At the moment the football traffic benefits Kassam, it keeps his stadium open and the rent coming in. If you take that away from him there's nothing stopping him charging £5+ to park on matchdays, seeing as it will be disrupting his other ventures that goes for the east stand car park too... not ideal.
 
Oxymoron said:
IIRC, one of the conditions for allowing the development of the Minchery Farm site was that free parking must be provided for all venues - something to do with stopping cars parking up in BBL and other residential areas nearby.
Click to expand...
Free parking for his venues would probably continue, but if we wanted to use his parking for the stadium.... Might fall under different terms after a stadium sale.
 
WuTang said:
Free parking for his venues would probably continue, but if we wanted to use his parking for the stadium.... Might fall under different terms after a stadium sale.
Click to expand...

I'm fairly sure Tiger et al would be aware and it'd be part of the deal if the planning conditions didn't carry over.
 
WuTang said:
But surely you can understand that a board member needs to get something back, that cannot happen by buying the Kassam. You need to see this project from a neutral point of view, through the eyes of an investor who would be trying to see how they can make a long term investment which will reap it's awards later in life, rather than a fan of the club who just desperately wants something to happen.
Click to expand...

I can understand that and a new site would also be my preferred route. But what is the plan if we get to 2026 and we are no further with finding a suitable site?

What if Kassam won't agree to a better lease or a shorter lease and it's either sign for another 20 years or ground share with Wycombe?
 
Grumpy Git said:
Completely agree that the asking price is ridiculous. The Kassam has no option to grow, so to ask £13.5 million is taking the pee.
Click to expand...
To be quite frank, l am sick of hearing the word Kassam. Browsing other fans forums the likes of Southend and Bristol Rovers have drawn up plans for new stadia and, apparently, have had finances in place to bring those plans to fruition. It would seem that these clubs, also, cannot get the deal over the line. Planning permission, covenants, etc. Well run football clubs with a solid fan base not being able to move forward. I feel United are in this category....but with clock ticking down to 2025 .... maybe we are getting into a much better bargaining position. Will be an interesting next 4 years...if I live to see it.
 
Grumpy Git said:
Completely agree that the asking price is ridiculous. The Kassam has no option to grow, so to ask £13.5 million is taking the pee.
Click to expand...
He's not asking £13.5 Million. That was a valuation put on the stadium some time ago. A price, as such, has never been made public nor agreed by any prospective buyer. All approaches from club board members have been rebuffed. "Not for sale to OUFC"
 
OX14 said:
I can understand that and a new site would also be my preferred route. But what is the plan if we get to 2026 and we are no further with finding a suitable site?

What if Kassam won't agree to a better lease or a shorter lease and it's either sign for another 20 years or ground share with Wycombe?
Click to expand...
A very fair question but our investors are savvy and experienced in exactly this field and so I wouldn't worry about that scenario just yet. There of course is a risk that potential sites being looked at can't be secured but that would be known well before 2026 and contingency plans made. Those contingency plans would be less palatable than moving to a new stadium but that's why they are contingency and not Plan A. ;)
 
windmill said:
To be quite frank, l am sick of hearing the word Kassam. Browsing other fans forums the likes of Southend and Bristol Rovers have drawn up plans for new stadia and, apparently, have had finances in place to bring those plans to fruition. It would seem that these clubs, also, cannot get the deal over the line. Planning permission, covenants, etc. Well run football clubs with a solid fan base not being able to move forward. I feel United are in this category....but with clock ticking down to 2025 .... maybe we are getting into a much better bargaining position. Will be an interesting next 4 years...if I live to see it.
Click to expand...

Southend & Fossett`s Farm has been rolling along since I lived there and I`ve been "up North" 16 years!
The steelwork was delivered and was visible on Google Earth for a while, piled up rusting away.
Sainsbury`s pulled out of buying Roots Hall and no developers wanted it until someone cut a deal with the Council
www.echo-news.co.uk

Stadium and new homes will be worth a staggering £500m to Southend and could create 1,000 jobs

SOUTHEND United’s new stadium and hundreds of new homes around it is worth a staggering £500million to the town and could create more than 1,000…
www.echo-news.co.uk www.echo-news.co.uk
 
Did anyone call the HSE? :ROFLMAO:

Some must be most desperate if you want to put a fuse box 'smoke/fire' at the door of Kassam.
 
On the 5 minute fans forum on Radio Oxford on 15 October last year, 4 months ago, Niall McWilliams told Jerome that with regard to the Stadium the Club were " genuinely making significant progress". In itself that is a meaningless phrase. A soundbite intended to fend off further enquiry and begs more questions than answers. It is ,of course, the only thing he could say . The dliemma for the Board is that even if they can find a site to develop at a cost of £100+million would it be a viable investment post-covid? And even if they decide it might be, such a development is now unlikely to be completed by 2026. It is inevitable that the club will have no option but to deal with Kassam for a new licence or negotiate a gtound share. Whilst fully appreciating the need to preserve confidentiallity around sensitive negotiations isn't it about time the Board gave fans a clear indiciation of it's intentions?
 
arthurturner said:
Whilst fully appreciating the need to preserve confidentiallity around sensitive negotiations isn't it about time the Board gave fans a clear indiciation of it's intentions?
Click to expand...

Spot on. Correct me if I am wrong but have the board or tiger ever came out and said we will buy land, build a stadium and develop the rest of the land to fund the stadium and to pay back the investors?

All the information seems to come from members of this forum who say they are in the know, are these people actually in the know or just assuming these investors are on the board for that reason?

I my self would have to question why they keep pumping money in with little return
, but maybe they are more interested in building the franchise worldwide than building a stadium and leisure facilities.
 
holdsteady said:
if you move to far from the centre of the county it becomes quite a trek for fans from the other side, plus Oxford has decent transport links with most of the rest of the county while some other places much less so, it has taken me longer to get from one side of Oxfordshire to the other than it has to travel a couple of county’s across before and that’s without the hassle of football traffic added to it.
Maybe it’s because I am actually from Oxford but I am vehemently opposed to the club moving outside of Oxford, it’s such a shitty franchise thing to do and it’s stealing the club from its origins. That would probably be it for me if it happened, even if they moved south and it was more convenient for me now I live on the Hampshire//Berkshire/Surrey borders.
Click to expand...
Yes that wouldn't happen, you'll get people like me saying I'm not going to X [remote market town], and I doubt you'd pick up a lot of locals from the new area.
 
WuTang said:
But surely you can understand that a board member needs to get something back, that cannot happen by buying the Kassam. You need to see this project from a neutral point of view, through the eyes of an investor who would be trying to see how they can make a long term investment which will reap it's awards later in life, rather than a fan of the club who just desperately wants something to happen.

Buying a 20 year old stadium for an extortionate amount, then just flattening it and spending 2-3 times that amount building yet another stadium (or even just finishing and fixing the current one) with no further land for facilities than can make them money in the future...

Or working with the council to find some land where they can design their own stadium and surrounding projects so they can make their money back and provide for their families years down the line. I honestly cannot see where the benefit is to an investor going for your favoured scenario of buying the kassam...

It may appear the easiest option to a fan, just buy the Kassam, the stadium is already there right, just get the best price and we can all celebrate? But when you look into it further you see buying an old dilapidated stadium for 2-3 times it's actual value, with no room to gain anything out of it probably isn't their preferred option.

What will make the investors their money back through an Oxford United stadium? Well look at Kassam as an example... hotels, bowling alley, cinemas, sporting facilities, gyms, bingo?! The list goes on... where can that happen at Grenoble road? It can't, it's already there, it's already been done and Kassam won't give any of that away.

They would much rather spend more initially to gain land and build their perfect vision which will start repaying them in 20-30 years time, Grenoble Road can't do that.

I wouldn't be disappointed if we bought the Kassam by any means, so long money is pumped into and it's finished off. I enjoy drinking in the Bird and it's a quick jaunt to the Cowley Road after the game, but I really don't think that's what will happen if our board can help it. It'll be the last resort option if they can't find anywhere to relocate.
Click to expand...
This discussion just goes round and round in circles!! I don't feel I know any more than I did at the start. I do wonder how much money the various facilities around the stadium make, they're all quite depressing and even before Covid a few were closed. I can't imagine we'd want to recreate that somewhere else.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

MarkG
What will happen to the Kassam stadium?
2
Replies
32
Views
2K
Concretebob
C
OUSP
Call to Action Stadium Planning
Replies
4
Views
676
OUSP
OUSP
OUFCwaffle
Study: New stadium location of safe standing model.
Replies
14
Views
1K
ljs
L
OUFCwaffle
Unofficial Name for the New Stadium
2 3
Replies
54
Views
6K
Emilio
Emilio
Northstandboy
  • Sticky
New Stadium Plans - The Triangle - Planning
741 742 743
Replies
15K
Views
749K
trainingcone
T
Back
Top Bottom