Palace’s new stand could take a decade to pay for itself, according to latest reports
The Eagles have landed: the estimated cost of building the new stand has risen from £75m in 2017 to £200m
Soaring development costs hitting an estimated £200million and continuing uncertainty over the role of a previous board member threaten to further delay the build of Crystal Palace’s spaceship-shaped new stand at Selhurst Park, according to reports today.
The club got final planning approval on its revised scheme last August, and the intention had been to start construction work once the current Premier League season reaches its conclusion next month.
But reports suggest that the project – announced in 2017 when the likely cost was around £75million – has been hit by steepling increases in construction materials and costs in the five years since covid. So cost estimates of £150million in 2022 have now increased by one-third.
The new stand, stuffed with high-revenue hospitality facilities, would see the Selhurst Park increase its capacity from 25,486 to 34,259. But the £200million cost would see the investment take at least 10 years to break even.
In the club’s most recent update about progress on the stadium, published in December, Crystal Palace said that after preliminary works last summer, the development was “progressing well”, including negotiations with contractors, and a re-statement of the intention to begin building works in mid-2025.
Unresolved: John Textor announced last year that he wanted to sell his shares in CPFC
The club had previously said that it intended for the new stand to be built up and over the existing, 1924-built main stand, in order to keep the stadium fully operational throughout the build process.
But a report published by The Athletic today suggests that the club might now be considering a less ambitious, and probably cheaper, construction plan which would not keep the old main stand in use during the project.
This, the New York Times-owned website reports, would speed up the project’s completion, but “it would significantly limit capacity at Selhurst Park over the course of the build with no income received from the 6,000 spectators currently accommodated in the stand”.
The consequences for going for the quicker, and cheaper, construction scheme is lost revenues and relocating matchday hospitality. “The club would need to make provision for this, as well as for those season-ticket holders displaced by the build,” the website reports.
It is probably not the kind of news the club’s loyal fans would welcome, coming immediately after some criticism of the club’s handling of ticket allocations for Palace’s FA Cup semi-final against Aston Villa at Wembley at the end of this month.
And finding the money to pay for the new stand remains an issue, according to The Athletic.
“Options are being discussed by shareholders but, despite continued uncertainty over the future of John Textor’s stake in the club and the fact all four general partners would be required to contribute in any capital raise, Palace are confident they will source the funding.”
Textor flounced out of Palace last year, issuing a 1,100-word statement expressing his lifelong support for… Everton. The Merseyside club ended up being bought by another bunch of American “investors”.
Tech entrepreneur Textor bought roughly 40% of Crystal Palace in 2021 for £90million, joining Apollo co-founder Josh Harris, Blackstone executive David Blitzer and chairman Steve Parish on the four-man board of directors.
Although Textor’s Eagle Football is the largest single shareholder in Palace, now at 45%, Textor has only ever had equal voting rights with the club’s other directors.
The project, once it begins, could take at least two years.
Other planning conditions are still to be met. Palace are still to purchase the one remaining privately-owned house in Wooderson Close and to find land within the borough to build five replacement council homes, as the club agreed as part of its planning permission.
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A truly ugly design that has been given the green light by CC’s secretive but inept design review panel. They couldn’t wipe their arses in a paper towel factory.