Luton CEO aiming to push forward with detailed plan of Power Court after Hatters agree Newlands Park sale

Luton Town chief executive Gary Sweet is aiming to push forward and deliver the detailed plan for a new stadium at Power Court after announcing the sale of the club’s Newlands Park site last week.

The Hatters’ property arm, 2020 Developments, revealed on Thursday it had agreed a deal with an investment fund advised by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI) and the UK developer Wrenbridge, for the development of the 37-acre site at Junction 10 of the M1.

The sale was completed to finance the new 17,500 all-seater stadium at Power Court, initially approved back in January 2019, but has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic, leading to a significant redesign of the plans.

Fresh outline proposals were submitted without the stadium and unanimously passed by a Luton Council development management committee in October.

A comprehensive plan including the ground is due to be finalised next year, as speaking to BBC Three Counties Radio last week, Sweet said: “The one thing about this is we can push forward now properly with the detailed plan for the stadium.

“Effectively we’ve got the money to start groundworks and all of those things, which we hope to start next year.

“We are looking at a good two year build for the stadium as well so when the detailed plan comes forward in the first half of next year, there is a lot of work to do.

“We did (always plan to sell Newlands Park), certainly to pay for the stadium and then Power Court will pay for the infrastructure, but times have changed over the past couple of years, even longer than that, since Brexit.

“Brexit’s had an impact on it too and values aren’t necessarily what they were for what we were going to do.

“So I think that’s part of the reason we felt now is the right time to let somebody else take on the development.

“It also means that we can focus our minds and all of our time on, apart from running a football club, the development of Power Court and making that good.”

Although understandably not revealing how much the deal was to sell Newlands Park, Sweet did admit that more contributions are needed to fund the new ground, which will hopefully be raised from the development at Power Court.

He continued: “It’s going to be a substantial contribution towards a football stadium, but football stadiums don’t come cheap.

“We’re still going to need a further contribution from the apartments and whatever else we deliver at Power Court.

“The most important thing for us now is that we maximise those values, because they are still needed.

“The cost of a football stadium has increased significantly over the course of the pandemic.

"Since we started to plan this thing, there’s been a huge increase in cost and no additional value to the stadium.

“Our job’s got a lot harder, so there is still quite a bit of contribution required from Power Court too.

“We’ve got 1,200 apartments which have got planning at Power Court that will provide the rest and it’s not just the stadium we’ve got to pay for.

“We’ve got to make sure the river’s in good nick and opened up, we’ve got the substation to move, a few roads to put in.

“There’s a fair bit of infrastructure to pay for too, so between the receipt for Morgan Stanley and Wrenbridge that we’ll be getting, then added that to the amount of money we get for the sale of those apartments, hopefully we’ll be there.”

When asked about the news that Newland Park had been sold, boss Nathan Jones added: “Every forward step we take towards Power Court is amazing.

“The people at the heart of it, Gary and Mike (Moran, chief operating officer), 2020 Development and the ones that run it have done a wonderful job.

"We’re really in a good position, good people running it and driving it.

"There is a common goal here where everyone wants to take this club forward and that is a wonderful place to be.

“There is no disjointedness here, there is a real togetherness and desire to do well for Luton.

“The people in charge of it are doing a wonderful job and that’s just one more thing to put the funds in place so we can complete a fantastic new stadium which will take us forward.”