£130m City Ground redevelopment twist as Nottingham Forest face new reality
Latest Nottingham Forest news from NottinghamshireLive as plans to redevelop City Ground hit by new – and potentially costly – blow
The cost of Nottingham Forest’s City Ground redevelopment has reportedly skyrocketed, amid delays in getting the project going.
The Reds first announced their intention to upgrade their stadium in 2019, with phase one centred around knocking down and rebuilding the Peter Taylor Stand to increase overall capacity. However, various challenges have meant work on the plans is yet to begin.
A dispute with Nottingham City Council, who own the land, over rent and a new lease led to Forest considering moving elsewhere. However, after negotiations between the two parties, senior councillors agreed to sell the freehold to the club.
In December, Councillor Neghat Khan said she had been reassured the sale should be completed by the end of the financial year, in April. And it has since been claimed that the redevelopment has been “pencilled in” for the summer of 2026.
However, the length of time taken to get the project going could see the club having to shell out more than initially planned. According to a new report by The Athletic the “estimated cost of building a three-tier, 10,000-seat stand” has risen from £80 million, when the club’s plans were first announced, to £130m.
Forest’s plans took a major step forward in 2022 when Rushcliffe Borough Council finally gave approval for the scheme. But delays have persisted since then over the Section 106 deal – part of a planning agreement in which the applicant pays for local infrastructure improvements. Forest have said they have now agreed a Section 106 deal and expect Rushcliffe Borough Council to reconsider the plans in the spring.
However, in a report published on February 5, leading estate agent Savills cast doubt on a key element of the scheme – the plans to build around 170 apartments by the City Ground. An assessment concluded Forest’s residential plans would fail to generate a viable profit under a range of different scenarios.
Getting the Peter Taylor Stand and waterside flats planning application approved will be crucial in the sale of the City Ground to the Reds being cleared. Nottingham City Council revealed a deal in the summer of 2024 that will see Forest buy the City Ground’s freehold from the authority, which currently owns the land.
Although the council has approved the terms of the deal, Forest have previously said: “Any decision to purchase the freehold will be entirely conditional on Nottingham Forest first being granted the relevant permissions that will allow us to realise our hugely ambitious plans for a significantly larger stadium capacity, world-class hospitality spaces and associated substantial real estate development in the vicinity of the ground.”
