Cllr Tom Ross said the club’s decision to build a new 100,000-capacity stadium next to the existing Old Trafford ground will help to maximise the regeneration potential of the wider area and attract investment.
Manchester United has today revealed it has appointed Foster + Partners to design the much-talked-about project and that it has eschewed the option of redeveloping the ground it has called home for more than 100 years in favour of a new ground likely to cost around £2bn.
Featuring a public plaza bigger than Trafalgar Square and a “vast umbrella” structure, the stadium is billed by Manchester United co-owner Jim Radcliffe as having the potential to be “the greatest in the world”.
The project sits at the heart of Trafford Council’s plans to deliver transformational change across more than 300 acres around the stadium.
“This is incredibly exciting news for Manchester United, but also for Trafford as well,” Ross told _Place North West_ at MIPIM.
“I know the club went through some significant engagement over the last few months and I feel that they’ve listened to what the overall message was. A new stadium brings so much potential, so much investment potential to that area.”
He added: “We’re so proud that they’ve made that decision to build a new stadium, remaining attached to the Old Trafford area.”
The stadium forms part of a wider regeneration project focused on the Wharfside area of the borough. It has the potential to generate £7.3bn per year to the UK economy and is arguably the country’s largest ever regeneration schemes.
The ambition is to deliver 17,000 homes around the ground, and it is this element of the project that Ross is most excited about.
“We’re looking at what opportunities there are for our residents, for our businesses, things that we can do with a sports-led regeneration project like the one that they’re proposing now,” he said.
Ross said the council would be collaborating with its partners, including the club, to ensure the opportunity is maximised.
“We’ll be working very closely with Manchester United, with our neighbours in Salford City Council, with wider landowners and strategic partners in the area to make sure that we realise our Wharfside masterplan.”
When asked about what he would like to see the club do with its existing ground, Ross deferred to Manchester United but added that the owners would have Trafford’s support in making the decision.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe, co-owner of Manchester United, said the announcement marks “the start of an incredibly exciting journey to the delivery of what will be the world’s greatest football stadium”.
“Our current stadium has served us brilliantly for the past 115 years, but it has fallen behind the best arenas in world sport. By building next to the existing site, we will be able to preserve the essence of Old Trafford, while creating a truly state-of-the-art stadium that transforms the fan experience, only footsteps from our historic home.”
Manchester United’s plans for a new ground will be dependent on securing land from various neighbouring sites and funding.
Radcliffe said the opportunity for a new stadium would be a “catalyst” for wider growth.
“Just as important is the opportunity for a new stadium to be the catalyst for social and economic renewal of the Old Trafford area, creating jobs and investment, not just during the construction phase, but on a lasting basis when the stadium district is complete. The government has identified infrastructure investment as a strategic priority, particularly in the north of England, and we are proud to be supporting that mission with this project of national, as well as local, significance.”
Lord Norman Foster, founder and executive chairman at Foster + Partners, gave a flavour of what to expect.
“It all starts with the fans’ experience, bringing them closer than ever to the pitch and acoustically cultivating a huge roar,” he said.
“The stadium is contained by a vast umbrella, harvesting energy and rainwater, and sheltering a new public plaza that is twice the size of Trafalgar Square.
“The outward-looking stadium will be the beating heart of a new sustainable district, which is completely walkable, served by public transport, and endowed by nature. It is a mixed-use miniature city of the future – driving a new wave of growth and creating a global destination that Mancunians can be proud.”
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