| Loftus Road. 10:21 - Jan 22 with 41856 views | Esox_Lucius |
IF, and it's a big if. the club were forced away from H&F to build a stadium which could provide income 360+ days a years to generate the revenue to make us competitive as a team again would you be for or against it. Yes or No will suffice, there's no need for comments like "knowing QPR they'd fück it up" etc. Just Yes or No. |  |
| The grass is always greener. |
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| Loftus Road. on 14:21 - Jan 25 with 2886 views | Benny_the_Ball |
| Loftus Road. on 13:40 - Jan 25 by NewBee |
Agree with all of that, but would qualify one point:
"QPR need a Matthew Benham or Tony Bloom much much much more than a new stadium"
I'm pretty sure Benham would not have plunged his millions into BFC had there been no hope of building a new stadium. And I strongly suspect Bloom wouldn't have taken over BHA in 2009 had the Amex* not already been under construction by then.
* - Eventually opened in 2011, after a final injection of £33m from Bloom. |
The point is still important because both Brentford and Brighton are owned by long-time fans with deep pockets, not consortiums with little connection with the club and limited personal wealth to take on the significant undertaking of purchasing a plot in London and building a new stadium.
P.S. Brighton and Bloom managed to avoid the politics that had dogged the club for so many years by targeting a site that, whilst near the city, actually falls under Lewes District Council. QPR could, perhaps, follow their lead by considering sites within the London Borough of Ealing as their relationship with Hammersmith & Fulham council is at an all time low. Moreover, H&F has 2 other football clubs in the same borough (Fulham and Chelsea) so the idea that QPR deserves preferential treatment on any available sites is rather misguided. |  | | |
| Loftus Road. on 14:36 - Jan 25 with 2846 views | derbyhoop |
| Loftus Road. on 11:48 - Jan 25 by toboboly |
I can imagine, I once had to attend an event at the Oval and it made the drudgery of the day worthwhile to look out over the ground.
However my point is that Pride Park probably has bugger all nearby and the whole city will be Derby fans. There is a limited choice for them to choose from.
We are in London, there are already a load of top level sporting venues catering for events; football, rugby, cricket, tennis etc. There are also lots of event specific sites that people will be choosing (Excel, Olympia), and if it is gigs then there are again far, far better venues for these to be held in.
We would be the last dog at the bowl and an unfashionable dog at that. I am querying whether this idea of £££'s as soon as we have a nice convention centre is misleading, will it actually be used as much as they think? I think that if I was not a QPR fan I wouldn't choose an event at a small/mid championship club with all the other possibilities available. [Post edited 25 Jan 2023 11:50]
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Pride Park is on a busy commercial centre walking distance from the station and city centre. It is the centrepiece of a development that was once railway sidings and gas works. Derby is a 1 club team, which may mean locals are more inclined to use it.
A venue in London would have much more competition but can still deliver substantial commercial revenue. Depending on accessibility.
As things stand it is an expensive place to run and generates next to nothing commercially. |  |
| "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the Earth all one's lifetime." (Mark Twain)
Find me on twitter @derbyhoop and now on Bluesky |
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| Loftus Road. on 14:53 - Jan 25 with 2797 views | QPR_Jim |
| Loftus Road. on 14:00 - Jan 25 by NewBee |
How much revenue do you imagine would be generated by 50? 500? even 5,000? fans using WeWork at LR for four hours on 10 or 15 midweeks a season?
While taking up space on a site which is otherwise incredibly valuable for development purposes. |
Whether that particular idea will work or not isn't really the point, having the space to get non-match day revenue and/or increase our match day hospitality income is vital in the championship. |  | | |
| Loftus Road. on 15:17 - Jan 25 with 2722 views | dmm |
Benny, the Smuts closed years ago. |  | | |
| Loftus Road. on 15:31 - Jan 25 with 2655 views | TK1 |
| Loftus Road. on 14:53 - Jan 25 by QPR_Jim |
Whether that particular idea will work or not isn't really the point, having the space to get non-match day revenue and/or increase our match day hospitality income is vital in the championship. |
It's the entire point. All the profit from having a Wework centre, conferences, barn dances, weddings, Ted Talks , whatever at a football stadium in a heaving London market wouldn't cover Aaron Drewe's yearly wages. As mentioned previously, no club in the Championship is better served for all that malarky than Reading. They are over £90 million in debt, under a transfer embargo and failed to pay their players in November. This is a real world, nearby example rather than a 'what if' supposition. |  | | |
| Loftus Road. on 15:55 - Jan 25 with 2578 views | Benny_the_Ball |
| Loftus Road. on 14:14 - Jan 25 by Juzzie |
All fair comments Benny. Back to my other question.... what site close to LR should QPR be on? |
This is an entirely different point which I've answered elsewhere in patches but I'll attempt to consolidate my thoughts here for your convenience.
First off, Loftus Road, whilst decrepit and somewhat unfit for purpose, is the asset that has kept QPR afloat during turbulent times. Before even considering a change of HQ, I would like to see guarantees that the new stadium will be owned by the club and can't be cherry-picked Chris Wright style, either by the current or future owners.
On the question of location, it's not correct to say that QPR haven't been able to secure a nearby site because of a lack of opportunities or planning restrictions. Quite simply, QPR's owners, rightly or wrongly, haven't wanted to put their hands in their pockets. There have been a number of developments that QPR could have piggy-backed but chose to ignore, such as Westfields and the BBC television centre. There have also been some nearby sites for sale outright such as the 10-acre Dairy Crest site. This was acquired by Imperial University in 2013 and Hammersmith & Fulham Council has given permission for 11 buildings, ranging in height from eight to 32 storeys, and featuring a hotel, 373 flats, offices, restaurants, bars, and a research-and-development centre.
Instead of jumping on these opportunities, our board is looking for a cheap lunch. They've attempted to integrate themselves into the Old Oak Development but they've made a mess of it by first holding consultations on developing land clearly owned by Car Giant and then, more recently, targeting the Linford Christie Stadium which is located in protected Wormwood Scrubs. It's as if they learned nothing from the Warren Farm debacle.
The irony is that the Old Oak Development is the opportunity to target, provided the board avoids protected areas and is prepared to invest correctly. As the development spans an area covering 3 London boroughs - Ealing, Brent and Hammersmith & Fulham - there are plenty of options for the club to consider. For instance, the London Assembly are currently developing plans for Old Oak West on land surrounding Park Royal, Old Oak Common Station, Willesden Junction and North Acton, with the HS2 Old Oak Common super hub at its heart. The opportunity is there to work with a local authority the club has a good relationship with (Ealing) and to position themselves within a local regeneration project served by state-of-the-art public transport linking West London to the Midlands and the North.
The opportunity is there so ultimately it boils down to will and finances. However, I wouldn't hold your breath because our consortium includes the same Tony Fernandes who, prior to investing in QPR, wanted to buy a controlling interest in West Ham for a fraction of its value (despite the club being front runners to adopt the Olympic Stadium) and when that failed, turned his attentions to Norwich City for a fraction of its value because they were in League 1. | | | |
| Loftus Road. on 16:23 - Jan 25 with 2505 views | Benny_the_Ball |
| Loftus Road. on 13:28 - Jan 25 by NewBee |
Brenhtford got incredibly lucky in Lionel Road being just about feasible, but even then it took 10 years and £82m(?) of the owners money to fund it before seeing any return. And even then, it is not financially feasible if dependant on Championship football.
Spurs rebuilt ojn their own site, which was not constrained on all sides by housing.
Arsenal got in 17 years ago i.e. before ever increasing development pressures reached their present levels. (And it cost them £320m, 2006 prices)
WHU were gifted a government-built stadium which desperately needed a tenant.
While the New Den was opened almost 30 years ago, on a brownfield site in a pretty derelict area of London where property was widely available and cheap i.e. nothing like W12 in 2023. |
There is always a little bit of luck involved with big projects but irrespective, they all managed it. If they can all manage it, then there can be little excuse for QPR. QPR have had numerous opportunities down the years to build in a run-down, brownfield area and managed nothing. When the New Den was opened Westfields didn't exist and the area largely consisted of scrapyards, rag 'n' bone merchants and gypsy camps. Fast forward to 2023 and yes, W12 is more expensive. However, it's all relative; the real estate prices apply to Loftus Road too, the proceeds from which can be used to finance a new site.
As for Brentford, the stadium was part of Benham's wider plan to bring PL football to the club. He had no intention to finance it on EFL football. And therein lies the key point that TK1 alluded to; you've got to have sensible owners with a clear, overarching plan. Right owner with a clear identity, right managers, decent scouting, successful player recruitment and sales, progress on the pitch and, finally, a new stadium that opened its doors to PL football. That's a plan executed to perfection by an owner who knows what he's doing and won't have his pants pulled down by the likes of Mark Hughes. | | | |
| Loftus Road. on 17:08 - Jan 25 with 2425 views | QPR_Jim |
| Loftus Road. on 15:31 - Jan 25 by TK1 |
It's the entire point. All the profit from having a Wework centre, conferences, barn dances, weddings, Ted Talks , whatever at a football stadium in a heaving London market wouldn't cover Aaron Drewe's yearly wages. As mentioned previously, no club in the Championship is better served for all that malarky than Reading. They are over £90 million in debt, under a transfer embargo and failed to pay their players in November. This is a real world, nearby example rather than a 'what if' supposition. |
What about an escape room?
In all seriousness, if what you are saying is true then there's no room in London for any new businesses, which is clearly false. A new stadium could be made to generate more revenue than the existing by having space within it for conferences and other things, we're not talking about having an arena bolted on the side, it wouldn't take up a lot of space. | | | |
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| Loftus Road. on 19:48 - Jan 25 with 2268 views | NorthantsHoop |
It seems that Hammersmith & Fulham Council are probably satisfied with the status quo of having big old Chelsea, posh Fulham as their premier brands and little old QPR as the corner shop. Time to cast the net wider and find a west/north west London local authority who would be supportive of getting a football club and work in partnership with the community, fans etc to make it happen, but as we all know money talks especially in football and the Board would need to seriously put a significant investment into the project and not expect gifted land. |  | | |
| Loftus Road. on 20:00 - Jan 25 with 2241 views | Juzzie |
I do agree with most of that Benny but Television Centre is a Grade II listed building. The site isn’t big enough to squeeze a stadium next to it so that’s a complete non-starter. Should not even be part of any conversation.
Same with Westfields, no way would we get what would probably be a 1/3 of the whole site for a stadium when it could house hundreds of lovely retail outlets instead. All that lovely business rates/tax.
You say Imperial College acquired the Dairy Crest site but was that off the back of getting permission to build offices, flats, restaurants etc? I bet they wouldn’t have bought the land if they couldn’t do that. IIRC Fulham and Chelsea were sniffing around that site too. Did they get rebuffed because it was way too close to QPR or because the authorities didn’t want a football stadium there and much preferred lots of flats, offices, hotels, restaurants etc? I’d wager the latter.
I’m not saying the owners haven’t been remiss, i just don’t think it’s as easy as implied. With the money awash in football the moment any land owner hears a club is interested in their land they’ll bung a couple of extra zeros on.
I do think the whole Car Giant thing should have been handled better. The owner is a shrewd businessman and if the club thought he’d sell cheap because he’s a fan and a former sponsor then that’s pretty naive and stupid. |  | | |
| Loftus Road. on 20:03 - Jan 25 with 2217 views | NewBee |
| Loftus Road. on 17:08 - Jan 25 by QPR_Jim |
What about an escape room?
In all seriousness, if what you are saying is true then there's no room in London for any new businesses, which is clearly false. A new stadium could be made to generate more revenue than the existing by having space within it for conferences and other things, we're not talking about having an arena bolted on the side, it wouldn't take up a lot of space. |
Of course there is room in London for new business.
But whether it be eg Events or Hotel Masnagement, QPR would be competing in this area with already well estanblished companies. And considering even some of those get it wrong sometimes, what makes you think QPR's owners have the necessary expertise in what would be for them a completely new field?
Which is only what Matthew Benham, already a self-made and hugely successful businessman in the gambling industry, decided for himself when he tore up BFC's plans to have a Conference Centre and Hotel at the GTech stadium.
Btw, Benham's plans for the GTech originally envisaged a 20k capacity, which was feasible. But when he re-did the sums, he realised that it would generate more revenue by including a larger Premium/Hospitality area, even though that would mean the capacity would be reduced to 17.5k.
Furthermore, even the present configuration could be expanded to fit in an extra couple of thousand more seats (by building out over a railway line?)
But this won't ever happen, since the cost of doing so could never be recouped by extra ticket sales. | | | |
| Loftus Road. on 21:23 - Jan 25 with 2122 views | BostonR |
I’ve been in real-estate investment most of my long career and worked internationally, in a host of markets. It’s been obvious since our PL days that the stadium is not fit for purpose. Yes, the Board made some huge mistakes, but are paying for those errors.
The west of London is very difficult to locate large parcels of land that would meet a requirement for a new stadium. Drive into LR from a one mile circumference and nothing is available without a huge amount of political, legal, planning and architectural input.
I’m not sure of the value of LR, but obviously a sale that offered premium residential development would be my advice. Sell the land and partner with a developer to increase the estimated financial yield. As a guess, that might raise somewhere between £70-80M. I think that is possible, given the overall re-development yields from other completed projects in W12.
The LCS offers the best prospect and I suspect the club must have consultants working on it privately and confidentially. It’s run down and not well maintained. The challenge is to get all the interested parties (of which there are many) around the table and having a serious and professional dialogue.
The Board have the wealth to make this happen, but the negotiations and persuasion has to be undertaken professionally and in strict confidence. However, there comes a time when the talking stops if matters do not progress and the Board must walk away.
In that case, I would imagine a site somewhere along the M40 up as far as Denham would be the best option. If you combine it with other development options it becomes very viable.
LR must be getting to the point where some areas of the ground are not structurally safe. |  | | |
| Loftus Road. on 21:38 - Jan 25 with 2094 views | Gloucs_R |
| Loftus Road. on 16:39 - Jan 23 by Hayesender |
When I went to Bristol City a few months ago, I was seriously impressed with all the bars and food stalls situated outside the ground.
Only disappointment was due to the traffic getting into Bristol, I didn't have time to sample the goods.
Bit yes, something along the lines of what they provide, would certainly get me out of the pub earlier |
I think they are getting a new train station near to the ground. |  |
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| Loftus Road. on 21:43 - Jan 25 with 2066 views | Gloucs_R |
If we're not in the Bush, then we need to be in one of our catchment areas, with good transport links and no other club close by.
Along the A40, Metropolitan, Picadilly or central line | |
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| Loftus Road. on 23:01 - Jan 25 with 1939 views | QPR_Jim |
| Loftus Road. on 20:03 - Jan 25 by NewBee |
Of course there is room in London for new business.
But whether it be eg Events or Hotel Masnagement, QPR would be competing in this area with already well estanblished companies. And considering even some of those get it wrong sometimes, what makes you think QPR's owners have the necessary expertise in what would be for them a completely new field?
Which is only what Matthew Benham, already a self-made and hugely successful businessman in the gambling industry, decided for himself when he tore up BFC's plans to have a Conference Centre and Hotel at the GTech stadium.
Btw, Benham's plans for the GTech originally envisaged a 20k capacity, which was feasible. But when he re-did the sums, he realised that it would generate more revenue by including a larger Premium/Hospitality area, even though that would mean the capacity would be reduced to 17.5k.
Furthermore, even the present configuration could be expanded to fit in an extra couple of thousand more seats (by building out over a railway line?)
But this won't ever happen, since the cost of doing so could never be recouped by extra ticket sales. |
It all depends on where the stadium is located and what opportunities there are. I can see how Bentham may have thought you would struggle to run a conference centre in your proposed location but it possibly would be more viable in Shepherds Bush. (If we could ever find a decent site nearby) Just because it wasn't right for Brentford doesn't mean it won't be right for other clubs. | | | |
| Loftus Road. on 23:05 - Jan 25 with 1931 views | Benny_the_Ball |
| Loftus Road. on 20:00 - Jan 25 by Juzzie |
I do agree with most of that Benny but Television Centre is a Grade II listed building. The site isn’t big enough to squeeze a stadium next to it so that’s a complete non-starter. Should not even be part of any conversation.
Same with Westfields, no way would we get what would probably be a 1/3 of the whole site for a stadium when it could house hundreds of lovely retail outlets instead. All that lovely business rates/tax.
You say Imperial College acquired the Dairy Crest site but was that off the back of getting permission to build offices, flats, restaurants etc? I bet they wouldn’t have bought the land if they couldn’t do that. IIRC Fulham and Chelsea were sniffing around that site too. Did they get rebuffed because it was way too close to QPR or because the authorities didn’t want a football stadium there and much preferred lots of flats, offices, hotels, restaurants etc? I’d wager the latter.
I’m not saying the owners haven’t been remiss, i just don’t think it’s as easy as implied. With the money awash in football the moment any land owner hears a club is interested in their land they’ll bung a couple of extra zeros on.
I do think the whole Car Giant thing should have been handled better. The owner is a shrewd businessman and if the club thought he’d sell cheap because he’s a fan and a former sponsor then that’s pretty naive and stupid. |
Think outside the box, J. The main Television Centre building itself may be listed but the BBC built a Media Village on the plot of the old White City stadium, a 17-acre site. The BBC sold this site in 2015. Where were the board? Moments from our current HQ, a new stadium there would have seen the club come full circle having occupied the old White City stadium for a few years in the 1930s and 60s.
With respect to Westfields I'm not suggesting that QPR should have hijacked a third of the shopping centre plot to build a stadium. I'm saying that shrewd operators would have partnered the project to build alongside it, for example in the space between John Lewis and the A40.
Ironically this adjacent plot includes the Dairy Crest site. Imperial College acquired it in 2013 and were granted planning permission in 2019 so, no, the acquisition was not dependent on planning permission.
I completely understand that property development isn't straightforward but it feels like you're desperately trying to find excuses for QPR's failure to take advantage of clear and obvious opportunities to develop in the local area. You also have a tendency to peddle conjecture in support of your arguments. For example, your assumption that Imperial College only acquired the Dairy Crest site on the back of planning permission and your unfounded rumours of Fulham and Chelsea showing an interest in this site. With all due respect, please stick to facts because I place no weight on conjecture.
Now, you challenged me to stipulate a site close to LR and I duly presented you with detailed examples, both past and present. Rather than look for excuses, ask yourself why are QPR targeting the Linford Christie stadium in the protected Wormwood Scrubs as opposed to leveraging the regeneration of Park Royal, Old Oak Common, North Acton and Willesden Junction? What's your thoughts on my Old Oak West proposal? | | | |
| Loftus Road. on 23:27 - Jan 25 with 1908 views | Juzzie |
You make it sound so easy Benny. “There’s a site…. go there. Why cant the owners just buy the old White City site, why can’t the owners just buy north of westfield” and so on.
Spotting a site is easy, we can all do that, acquiring it is another whole matter.
I’m not making excuses at all for for the owners however much you may feel that.
And no, i’m not making rumours or conjectures thanks. Here’s a link from 2002 that shows Fulham made an unsuccessful bid in Wood Lane. I remember talk at the time and the Dairy Crest site was very much mentioned.
https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/6314954.will-fulham-move-away-club-looks-at-a
[Post edited 25 Jan 2023 23:31]
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| Loftus Road. on 08:22 - Jan 26 with 1711 views | QPR_Jim |
| Loftus Road. on 23:27 - Jan 25 by Juzzie |
You make it sound so easy Benny. “There’s a site…. go there. Why cant the owners just buy the old White City site, why can’t the owners just buy north of westfield” and so on.
Spotting a site is easy, we can all do that, acquiring it is another whole matter.
I’m not making excuses at all for for the owners however much you may feel that.
And no, i’m not making rumours or conjectures thanks. Here’s a link from 2002 that shows Fulham made an unsuccessful bid in Wood Lane. I remember talk at the time and the Dairy Crest site was very much mentioned.
https://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/6314954.will-fulham-move-away-club-looks-at-a
[Post edited 25 Jan 2023 23:31]
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The other thing that doesn't get mentioned much about the dairy crest site is access. Crowds from wood lane station or the bush have 2 bridges to get over to the site or if you're coming from the other direction, going under the westway. So there's no guarantee you'd get planning for a football stadium on that site anyway, no matter how convenient it would be. | | | |
| Loftus Road. on 08:46 - Jan 26 with 1675 views | switchingcode |
| Loftus Road. on 08:22 - Jan 26 by QPR_Jim |
The other thing that doesn't get mentioned much about the dairy crest site is access. Crowds from wood lane station or the bush have 2 bridges to get over to the site or if you're coming from the other direction, going under the westway. So there's no guarantee you'd get planning for a football stadium on that site anyway, no matter how convenient it would be. |
Wait till you experience the pedestrian and traffic carnage around Kew bridge on match days. | | | |
| Loftus Road. on 09:53 - Jan 26 with 1603 views | TK1 |
| Loftus Road. on 21:23 - Jan 25 by BostonR |
I’ve been in real-estate investment most of my long career and worked internationally, in a host of markets. It’s been obvious since our PL days that the stadium is not fit for purpose. Yes, the Board made some huge mistakes, but are paying for those errors.
The west of London is very difficult to locate large parcels of land that would meet a requirement for a new stadium. Drive into LR from a one mile circumference and nothing is available without a huge amount of political, legal, planning and architectural input.
I’m not sure of the value of LR, but obviously a sale that offered premium residential development would be my advice. Sell the land and partner with a developer to increase the estimated financial yield. As a guess, that might raise somewhere between £70-80M. I think that is possible, given the overall re-development yields from other completed projects in W12.
The LCS offers the best prospect and I suspect the club must have consultants working on it privately and confidentially. It’s run down and not well maintained. The challenge is to get all the interested parties (of which there are many) around the table and having a serious and professional dialogue.
The Board have the wealth to make this happen, but the negotiations and persuasion has to be undertaken professionally and in strict confidence. However, there comes a time when the talking stops if matters do not progress and the Board must walk away.
In that case, I would imagine a site somewhere along the M40 up as far as Denham would be the best option. If you combine it with other development options it becomes very viable.
LR must be getting to the point where some areas of the ground are not structurally safe. |
Denham? Denham is 13 miles from Shepherds Bush. It is nine miles from Vicarage Road. You're talking about starting a new club, not building a new stadium. How many of the current 13k hardcore will travel beyond the end of the Met line? I reckon about 9k at best. So to make it work (as a Championship club I presume) you need to find another 10k dormant fans in this area who are not tempted by Watford, who are not armchair fans, who have the income/time/desire
It's never gonna work. Ever since Christ Wright first suggested moving to Heathrow in 1997, these threads pop up whenever the team is a bit flat. It never comes around when we're doing well, on the up, playing to packed houses. It always comes in the midst of a long funk, when the team looks lost, when the fans are bored by the playing prospects.I don't remember these conversations in any promotion season or whenever we've been in the Prem - which is arguably the only time we should be having them.
Nothing but nothing would be as transformative for the club's finances and future as a couple of five match winning runs that put QPR in the play-offs, be that this season or next. And it's a lot easier and more achievable than building and filling a new stadium beyond Uxbridge. | | | |
| Loftus Road. on 10:00 - Jan 26 with 1590 views | stantheman10 |
| Loftus Road. on 09:53 - Jan 26 by TK1 |
Denham? Denham is 13 miles from Shepherds Bush. It is nine miles from Vicarage Road. You're talking about starting a new club, not building a new stadium. How many of the current 13k hardcore will travel beyond the end of the Met line? I reckon about 9k at best. So to make it work (as a Championship club I presume) you need to find another 10k dormant fans in this area who are not tempted by Watford, who are not armchair fans, who have the income/time/desire
It's never gonna work. Ever since Christ Wright first suggested moving to Heathrow in 1997, these threads pop up whenever the team is a bit flat. It never comes around when we're doing well, on the up, playing to packed houses. It always comes in the midst of a long funk, when the team looks lost, when the fans are bored by the playing prospects.I don't remember these conversations in any promotion season or whenever we've been in the Prem - which is arguably the only time we should be having them.
Nothing but nothing would be as transformative for the club's finances and future as a couple of five match winning runs that put QPR in the play-offs, be that this season or next. And it's a lot easier and more achievable than building and filling a new stadium beyond Uxbridge. |
I wouldn't worry about us moving for a long while yet , if we do.
No right minded property developer is going to be buying Loftus Road at this time.
All the big developers are putting new schemes on hold indefinitely and won't purchase any land unless its below the going rate and I can't see our owners selling on the cheap. | | | |
| Loftus Road. on 10:25 - Jan 26 with 1543 views | QPR_Jim |
| Loftus Road. on 10:00 - Jan 26 by stantheman10 |
I wouldn't worry about us moving for a long while yet , if we do.
No right minded property developer is going to be buying Loftus Road at this time.
All the big developers are putting new schemes on hold indefinitely and won't purchase any land unless its below the going rate and I can't see our owners selling on the cheap. |
I agree it's a long way off but if property developers aren't buying land right now wouldn't it be a good time to look for a site, less competition.
We couldn't sell LR until we had planning and a realistic timescale for construction, which could take years by which time the developers will likely be buying again. | | | |
| Loftus Road. on 10:33 - Jan 26 with 1524 views | BostonR |
| Loftus Road. on 10:25 - Jan 26 by QPR_Jim |
I agree it's a long way off but if property developers aren't buying land right now wouldn't it be a good time to look for a site, less competition.
We couldn't sell LR until we had planning and a realistic timescale for construction, which could take years by which time the developers will likely be buying again. |
Why do you assume property developers are not buying land? RE Investment opportunities are secured by a myriad of options from pension funds to wealthy individuals. Values are slightly down, but I can tell you for sure that property investment opportunities are thriving.
The option of selling and then leasing LR back, whilst the club built a new stadium has huge financial advantages for the club.
I am certain that this is one of the finance vehicles the Board must be looking at. | | | |
| Loftus Road. on 10:38 - Jan 26 with 1516 views | BostonR |
| Loftus Road. on 09:53 - Jan 26 by TK1 |
Denham? Denham is 13 miles from Shepherds Bush. It is nine miles from Vicarage Road. You're talking about starting a new club, not building a new stadium. How many of the current 13k hardcore will travel beyond the end of the Met line? I reckon about 9k at best. So to make it work (as a Championship club I presume) you need to find another 10k dormant fans in this area who are not tempted by Watford, who are not armchair fans, who have the income/time/desire
It's never gonna work. Ever since Christ Wright first suggested moving to Heathrow in 1997, these threads pop up whenever the team is a bit flat. It never comes around when we're doing well, on the up, playing to packed houses. It always comes in the midst of a long funk, when the team looks lost, when the fans are bored by the playing prospects.I don't remember these conversations in any promotion season or whenever we've been in the Prem - which is arguably the only time we should be having them.
Nothing but nothing would be as transformative for the club's finances and future as a couple of five match winning runs that put QPR in the play-offs, be that this season or next. And it's a lot easier and more achievable than building and filling a new stadium beyond Uxbridge. |
The point is that even in the PL we could not completely sell out LR given the appalling seating layout. Let's say we get to the PL next season I assume there is a huge layout to get the ground PL ready?
LR is well past its sell-buy date and is draining resources. We are hampered by the geographical position of the ground which cannot expand beyond the current footprint.
It is time for the club to take a different approach and think big on the stadium. | | | |
| Loftus Road. on 10:56 - Jan 26 with 1473 views | Phildo |
I do wonder if the decline in retail could mean some sites open up. I know a lot of secondary retail shopping centres are being bought for residential development with the buyers letting the existing retail leases run down. Its happening to a site behind my office for example. lets say a supermarket site in Acton (for example) became available - presumably we could live with that? |  | | |
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