Crystal Palace stadium 'to be sold'
By Jonathan Russell
Last Updated: 1:12am GMT 12/02/2008
Fans of Crystal Palace Football Club are set to see their stadium sold as a development opportunity for £12.5m, according to confidential information seen by The Daily Telegraph.
The stadium's owners have instructed property agents Mason & Partners to sell the ground, with advice that "in the long term this site does offer considerable opportunity for a major mixed-use redevelopment".
Crystal Palace chairman and owner Simon Jordan claimed to have bought the ground in 2006 for £12m. However, it was done through a complex series of companies which obscured the identity of the final owner.
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Last year he was reported to be looking to raise £15m to refinance the property, offering investors access to income from the £1m rent roll from the ground.
The current deal, pitched as a sale-and-leaseback, offers investors a rent roll of £1.2m per year, or a 9pc return on the sale price.
Despite the wording of the sales brochure, which repeatedly stresses the development value of the 6.2-acre site, a potential investor would have to find an alternative home for the club before knocking down the stadium building on the site.
The local authority has stipulated it would not allow development at Selhurst Park stadium unless an alternative stadium is found ''within or near" the borough.
Under the terms of the sale, the stadium is being put on the market with the football club as the sole tenant. Under the terms of the lease, the club would have a 25-year lease with upward-only rent reviews every three years.
Simon Jordan made his money selling his mobile phone dealership PocketPhone Shop to One2One for £73m in 2000. The same year he bought Crystal Palace for £10m.
The club is currently seventh in the Championship. It has the dubious honour of being one of the most relegated clubs from the Premier League.
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Comments
I wonder if Bermondsey or Charlton would be considered near enough? "The local authority has stipulated it would not allow development at Selhurst Park stadium unless an alternative stadium is found ''within or near" the borough."
LOL!!! "Under the terms of the lease, the club would have a 25-year lease with upward-only rent reviews every three years."....Oh dear! Spiralling rental prices, falling gates......Sounds like SJ is just as incompetent as Goldberg!
And Palace fans have the cheek to knock Murray et al.......
There is a government agency called English Partnerships who are bulling and forcing South East England councils to come up with residential properties doesnt matter is they are private or the con thats 50% mortgage and 50% rent deals. Bye bye Selhurst how irionic lol.
Maybe they could stand in the local elections as the "Selhurst Party". Nah, silly idea, would never happen.
Dont be daft Ben. Only Anoraks and Trainspotters do that sort thing
I'd love to be evesdropping on that call when the Orange **** phones up Richard Murray......... :-)
Shame they dont have Greenwich Council c 1988-92 to deal with....
When is Brighton's new ground going to the ready? That would be perfect.
Surely we can find space behind the East Stand for a couple of portacabins?
I will pass on your idea to mr J re the possible temp arena for CPFC being at CrossNess near Abbey Wood.Although i do not see the relevance to CPFC of the fact that its a sewage works and no one goes there ?
Regards
Alice
PS I have asked Mr J and he said he couldnt hear you laughing.
The last prospectus was looking for a 15m investment for a 1m PA return - now less than six months later Jordan is looking for a 12.5m investment for a 1.2m PA return. This really does smack of desperation.
F-Blocker you are a genius - with help from the Chinese government they love overseas investment, build the east stand extension aswell get the yids in for two seasons as they rebuild white hart lane murray makes a huge amount of dosh for himself and the club. and the people of china gets some aswell.
business is pi** easy. Huge respect to Murray and co if that happened.
I would of love to be the only person to win that euro lottery on friday he he he what damage i could do with 15 million of it lol
You could fill a deep fat fryer with the grease from his barnet.....and he needs his roots doing.
Smudge. Lets start a campaign to raise the money and form a new property company called say M&I (Morons and Imbeciles) Ltd.
Year 1-3 we get £1.2m between us, which is only £60 a man, but is a 10 (ish) % return.
Year 4 we exercise our right to put the rent up to £5m a season (£250 return).
Palace go tits up....We sell the ground for housing, everyone's a winner!!
Matt_Himself is concluding some multi-billion pound deals at the moment with some of his amazing financial connections. In fact I'd imagine he'll just buy the stadium out of his bonus and present the freehold back to Crystal Palce Football Club as a gift. The amounts being quoted are small change to him.
He will then dash across town as he has a comedy consulting session with Ricky Gervais and Billy Connelly at which he will teach them how to construct truly comical scripts.
After that he will probably come back on here and embarrass us all by outwitting us and winding us up with his informed and perfectly constructed banter (or smart arse comments). Man, are we going to feel silly?!
always believed "every dog has its day" and boy do i want them to be my lamp post.
year 1 we all may well have a spare £350-500 each spare if we go up. just to speed it up a bit like ;-)
Id love to know if Murray or any of the board and reg is reading this thread. i would love it if they could give us a sign on this thread that they are.
I bet they are pi$$ing themselves with laughter.
Exclusive: Jordan rubbishes Selhurst Park sell-off rumours
Crystal Palace chairman Simon Jordan has rubbished rumours Selhurst Park is going to be sold for a housing development - and announced his plan to buy it from the current landlord.
A national newspaper story this week said the stadium's owners had instructed property agents Mason & Partners to sell the ground. The report said Selhurst Park offered "considerable opportunity for a major mixed-use redevelopment."
But Mr Jordan told the Croydon Guardian there was no truth in the story and that he was considering consulting his lawyers about it.
He said: "The article is a load of utter nonsense. Mason and Partners work for me, not the landlord Paul Kemsley, and they have been for 15 months.
"I have been trying to do a deal on the stadium for some time, but with the credit crunch on the market at the moment it has been difficult, but I have now agreed a deal with Paul which will be announced shortly and I have no further comment to make until it is."
The negotiations are Crystal Palace's attempt to take control of the stadium and bring it up to modern standards. The much loved ground is in desperate need of a makeover and fans are eager to the work started.
At a press conference in 2006 Mr Jordan said he had used a third party to buy it from former owner Ron Noades, who bought it in 1981.
It is believed Mr Kemsley's property company, Rock Investments, was used to complete the transaction and that the contract would be transferred to Mr Jordan. It has taken 16 months to thrash out the deal, but the Eagles chairman said it was about to be finalised.
Crystal Palace fans were quick to react to the rumours that the stadium was to be sold and many voiced their concerns.
Speaking about the national newspaper story Chris Hollis, a former Carshalton man from Bristol, said: "I was not very happy about the news that the ground could be sold."
Rob des Forges, 23, a member of the Crystal Palace Ambassadors Club from Haringey, said: "My main worry is how the club is going to finance somewhere for us to call home in the future. Having been a fan for my entire life I fully remember the dark days of administration Simon Jordan saved us from and would hope the club learnt its lesson and not risk going back."
In a contribution to the fansite holmesdale.net a supporter called Dave Smith was more optimistic. He wrote: "I can't see Simon Jordan stitching us up. He will be aiming to do the best for the club."
Another fan calling himself Sussexbasedpalace felt that a change would be good. "It would be sad to lose Selhurst as our home, but the writing has been on the wall for some time and new glossy surroundings will be most welcome."
Since when has the new den been described as "glossy surroundings" ?