The departure of London Legacy Development Corporation (LLDC) Chairman Lord Peter Hendy and CEO Lyn Garner later this year is an opportunity for West Ham to start approaching the LLDC for a long lease of the London Stadium. A deal before the London Mayoral election was unlikely but now the results are in, London Mayor Sadiq Kahn could be open for a deal with the Hammers that could save London taxpayers millions in subisdy.
The LLDC is due to be downsized later this year as it hands back its planning and development powers to local councils.
The LLDC Planning Policy & Decisions Team (PPDT) will cease its function as local planning authority for the LLDC area from midnight on the 30th of November 2024 and return planning powers to the local London Boroughs.
In recent months Everyone Active has taken over operations of the London Aquatics Centre, which was built for the 2012 Olympic Games within the Queen Elizabeth Park close to the London Stadium.
The Podium bar building and external spaces with the ArcelorMittal Orbit attraction and Slide have been leased out to Peppermint Events for seven years.
It would make sense to now long lease the London Stadium to West Ham to take a headache away from the slimmed-down public body.
West Ham has 88 years remaining on their 99-year concessionaire agreement signed in 2013.
The Hammers currently pay £4m in rent to use the London Stadium but would potentially need to pay a lot more to take complete control.
Council tax alone is thought to be £2m with another £2m on electricity, gas and water, seats move cost another £4m with wages of permanent staff costing £3.5m
London Stadium 185 suggest their running costs are in the region of £16m per year to operate the Stadium in their companies’ house accounts so there is probably another £4.5m in stewarding, security, cleaning, catering and maintenance costs.
West Ham would need to bring in enough income to cover the £12m difference from the rent they paying at the moment.
Some efficiencies and savings could be found but the real challenge would be to sell the naming rights, other sponsorship deals, music concerts and stadium-based revenue.
This stadium should be just for football, who wants baseball or pop music there.
We would need a team to play in it ?
Yes please, give us a new 99 year lease with full control (like City got for the Manchester Stadium) thereby allowing us to convert the LS into a fit for purpose football stadium.
If possible we should dig down and greatly increase the rake of the seats to then create another tier hopefully increasing the capacity to around 75,000. Convert and flatten off both ends with cantilevered levels (rather than 1 slope) to bring fans in the highest seats closer to the pitch, and include at least 10,000 safe standing seats (mainly in the home end)
Make it something like the new Madrid stadium, but with the lowest level steeper allowing more capacity.
The views from the lower tier are good at the sides (I’ve sat on the east side and am now west stand row106, 21, where I have an excellent view). But the gaps back to the upper tiers are in the tens of metres. The VIPs sit miles back. Something will surely give in the near future. But for all the faults the club has a hell of a deal. But I can’t understand why the naming rights haven’t been sold, especially after winning the ECL.
I am a season ticket holder and my view is great.
Any large stadium will have seats where the view is not great…a Spurs friend posted a pic from the away section of LS dissing the view, but I reminded him of the view he had from his ST seat at NWHL, it was similar if not worse and he choose that seat.
It’s a shame our owners didn’t have the vision of spurs, arsenal, Everton etc and build a proper football ground that is something to be proud of for our club that’s paid for by our club.
The athletics bowl is a joke of a ground, is absolutely awful view for so many people. It’s soulless and we shouldn’t have tax payers paying for us..
Agree 100%, awful ground, totally unsuitable for football, tiers nowhere near steep enough.
Typical pikeys can’t afford to buy shit so have to rent scum
Wanker
Why would west ham want another lease when they’ve still got 88 years left at a peppercorn rent? The original deal was a masterstroke by Brady and Sullivan and they should stick with it especially now we have to adhere to ppf profit and loss implemented by the premier league.