In its long-delayed plans to renovate Stamford Bridge for £1 billion, Chelsea appears to have made a significant advancement.
The club has expressed interest in acquiring a vital £50 million land close to the stadium after encountering numerous challenges in their first attempt to reconstruct the stadium under Roman Abramovich.
This week, the majority of the two acres on which the housing association Stoll operates 157 subsidized dwellings for veterans of the military services was up for auction. Chelsea is eager to purchase the property because their growth ambitions are constrained by Stamford Bridge’s close proximity to other structures and railroad tracks.
Get Instantly Update By: Joining Our Whatapps and Telegram Channel
Following a five-month dialogue with neighbors, it is understood that the club may purchase 60% of Stoll’s land, or the equivalent of 1.2 acres, while the association reduces its capacity to “at least 50 new flats.”
But Todd Boehly, the new Chelsea owner, might have to compete with other bidders for the Fulham Road property. The Mail on Sunday has seen renderings showing how the location may seem if residential buildings were to be constructed there after being purchased by real estate developers.
An announcement of the buyer is required before the end of the year, and the deadline for bids has been set for the first of December.
When it was revealed that former owner Abramovich had made a covert payment to Stoll, considered to be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds, Chelsea’s relationship with the organization created controversy in 2018. The organization then decided to keep nearly 30 of its apartments empty rather than give houses to vulnerable ex-soldiers, a decision that is thought to have helped Abramovich’s ambitions for a new stadium.
Since fewer former soldiers were living there to voice their concerns about the proposal, Stoll discontinued its opposition to the stadium.
At the time, Chelsea declared: “The club has long backed our longtime neighbor Stoll.” Our assistance is appropriately confidential. Eventually, Abramovich and Stoll reached an agreement to sell a portion of the land for £50 million, but the transaction fell through when the Russian’s ambitions for a $1 billion stadium were postponed.
The Stamford Bridge stands will be updated and replaced one at a time, according to Boehly. Bulldozing the hotel at the Shed End is another possibility.
The American has commissioned Los Angeles-based architect Janet Marie Smith, who assisted with the renovation of Dodger Stadium, to provide recommendations. Before the season is through, the team is not anticipated to reveal any designs.