December 4 – The cost of Tottenham Hotspur’s new North London stadium has ballooned to more that £1 billion, making it the most expensive football construction project in the UK, costing even more than West Ham’s Olympic Stadium, built for the 2012 Olympics and remodelled into the London Stadium for the Hammers.
Initially Spurs’ 61,500 seat stadium was hoped to come in at £400 million but costs soon reached £750 million. The new cost hike is attributed the complexity of the build, according to a report in the Mail.
In June Spurs agreed a £400 million five-year bank loan provided by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and HSBC Bank. Spurs have already spent £340 million from their own resources “on the acquisition of land, the planning process (including a compulsory purchase order and legal challenges),” said a club statement at the time. The stadium will be the second most expensive football stadium to be built in the UK after Wembley.
The new £400 million loan is replacing a £200 million interim financing facility from the same banks of which £100 million has been drawn down.
The remaining costs will be covered through a number of sources including debt, stadium naming rights and advance hospitality ticket sales, with the club looking to frontload payments to ease the cash pressures.
Although built on the site of the old White Hart Lane stadium, the new ground will not be named the same with a deal for the naming rights believed to be in discussion with various parties.
This won’t be enough to prevent the club having to go back to banks for more loans but does help with the security over the money raising, with advisors Rothschild reportedly having secured three five-year loans worth a total of £350 million. At the end of the term the outstanding debt will be refinanced or put into longer-term bonds.
The new stadium will be built to accommodate NFL matches which has meant the construction of larger changing rooms and access areas, as well as two sliding pitches. Originally scheduled to be ready for the start of next season, the club has nevertheless secured stop-gap further use of Wembley Stadium if there is an over-run.
When completed, Spurs will generate an increased £28 million per season from football match day activity through increased tickets and improved corporate facilities.
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