Mercedes garage

[Up The City!]

20 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

Of course it would be handy, but it doesn't make for a very good investment when the business plan reads... "IF we get to the Prem and IF we can stay there and become financially self sufficient, then it would be handy to have a bigger ground for 6/7 occasions per year when we might be able to sell a few extra seats to people who probably won't show up again if we return to the Championship"

Would a new stand look good? Yes. 

Would it make a significant increase to our capacity? Probably not really. An extra 2/3-possibly 4,000 extra seats max.

Would you spend in the region 10million on buying houses before a penny has been spent on the rest of the development, in order to get a few thousand extra seats, that the majority of the time will be empty? Assuming that EVERY owner of those properties will sell without slapping a £5million price tag on their property. 

 

Isn't this exactly the dilemma Liverpool have with the Anfield Road End? With little corporate facilities on an end stand it's likely to take 15 years to recoup the outlay, for an upgrade of 6000 seats.

[Bar BS3]

4 minutes ago, harrys said:

Probably not, but at least half the other teams will appeal, your London teams, Merseyside & Manchester teams, Villa/Newcastle when they inevitably get back in the top flight, the likes of WBA, Southampton, Stoke, Swansea still sell out every game despite having several seasons in the top flight why should we be any different?

Burnley, Hull, West Brom, Palace, Southampton, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Watford?, don't sell out every game. They get close, of course, but doubt they are crying out for bigger capacities.

I would love to be proved wrong and see massive demand for an increased capacity if we were able to get and sustain premier league football!

 

[Bar BS3]

8 minutes ago, Up The City! said:

Isn't this exactly the dilemma Liverpool have with the Anfield Road End? With little corporate facilities on an end stand it's likely to take 15 years to recoup the outlay, for an upgrade of 6000 seats.

I also think that Liverpool will have slightly less trouble finding fans to fill their new seats that we will!

[pillred]

2 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

Burnley, Hull, West Brom, Palace, Southampton, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Watford?, don't sell out every game. They get close, of course, but doubt they are crying out for bigger capacities.

I would love to be proved wrong and see massive demand for an increased capacity if we were able to get and sustain premier league football!

 

we have no chance of ever being a BIG club if we don't at least show some ambition

[phantom]

3 minutes ago, pillred said:

we have no chance of ever being a BIG club if we don't at least show some ambition

Doesn't the recent rebuild of the ground show enough ambition?

[Fiale]

The away end should never give 10,000 seats to a team... that would almost make home matches into a away fixtures with away fans numbering that. With around 3000 - 3500 away fan allocation, we could get away with something smaller there, but with some other income mix utilising the space.

[TV Tom]

10 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

Burnley, Hull, West Brom, Palace, Southampton, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Watford?, don't sell out every game. They get close, of course, but doubt they are crying out for bigger capacities.

I would love to be proved wrong and see massive demand for an increased capacity if we were able to get and sustain premier league football!

 

That's a bit misleading isn't it Sunderland  have a 50,000 capacity so that makes it very difficult for them to sell out, Southampton and Borough are averaging over 30,000, Burnley is only a quarter the size of Bristol but are still averaging 20,000, the same can be said of Watford, Palace and WBA are averaging around 25,000, we'd sell out no problem, 

[pillred]

15 minutes ago, Fiale said:

The away end should never give 10,000 seats to a team... that would almost make home matches into a away fixtures with away fans numbering that. With around 3000 - 3500 away fan allocation, we could get away with something smaller there, but with some other income mix utilising the space.

we took over 5,000 to mk dons and nearly that to reading not that long ago if the demand and capacity is there why not imagine the atmosphere at ashton gate the more the merrier I say

[Robbored]

30 minutes ago, pillred said:

we have no chance of ever being a BIG club if we don't at least show some ambition

Hmmmm........new poster.......

[pillred]

4 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Hmmmm........new poster.......

I think your mask is faulty

[Bar BS3]

24 minutes ago, harrys said:

That's a bit misleading isn't it Sunderland  have a 50,000 capacity so that makes it very difficult for them to sell out, Southampton and Borough are averaging over 30,000, Burnley is only a quarter the size of Bristol but are still averaging 20,000, the same can be said of Watford, Palace and WBA are averaging around 25,000, we'd sell out no problem, 

I agree with everything you are saying. I just question whether our current capacity really needs to be increased at the cost it would take to do so when having to buy 18 properties at over inflated prices before you can even start..?

27k is about right. Possibly a few more for bigger games, but generally it will be fine. 

We've never averaged over that in our history, at any level. 

Only once (26k in 1956) have we ever averaged over 24k

[JamesBCFC]

4 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

I agree with everything you are saying. I just question whether our current capacity really needs to be increased at the cost it would take to do so when having to buy 18 properties at over inflated prices before you can even start..?

27k is about right. Possibly a few more for bigger games, but generally it will be fine. 

We've never averaged over that in our history, at any level. 

Only once (26k in 1956) have we ever averaged over 24k

To be fair if we were waiting to sell out the old capacity before redeveloping then we would still be several years off of it.

[pillred]

4 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

I agree with everything you are saying. I just question whether our current capacity really needs to be increased at the cost it would take to do so when having to buy 18 properties at over inflated prices before you can even start..?

27k is about right. Possibly a few more for bigger games, but generally it will be fine. 

We've never averaged over that in our history, at any level. 

Only once (26k in 1956) have we ever averaged over 24k

but our population is much higher than it was in 1956

[Bar BS3]

3 minutes ago, pillred said:

but our population is much higher than it was in 1956

Valid point. Although there weren't armchair (Sky) fans then. Or £40+ tickets, or travel & parking problems etc. 

As I said, I'd love to be proved wrong and need space to accommodate all the cockneys & mancs who were day tripping to Bristol to jump on our bandwagon..! 

The only way that we will know demand for real is by getting there, staying there and then seeing if we need a regularly bigger capacity. 

What a great problem that would be..!

[Toblerone]

3 hours ago, View from the Dolman said:

Why would we want away teams bringing 10000?

If the local non-leaguers made it to the FA Cup third round we could draw them at home and they'd need fifty times that number of tickets just for the small minority who don't buy tickets in the home end.

[TV Tom]

51 minutes ago, Bar BS3 said:

I agree with everything you are saying. I just question whether our current capacity really needs to be increased at the cost it would take to do so when having to buy 18 properties at over inflated prices before you can even start..?

27k is about right. Possibly a few more for bigger games, but generally it will be fine. 

We've never averaged over that in our history, at any level. 

Only once (26k in 1956) have we ever averaged over 24k

For now 27k is fine and I would be in no immediate rush to increase the capacity while we are in this division, if the time comes and we do reach the giddy heights of the prem then it might be something to look at, but you are right 27 k is more than enough at the moment, the point I'm making is that we won't have a problem selling 27k in the top flight, comparing attendances with days gone by is a little tricky as the match day experience is like chalk and cheese to days gone by, who can remember the 10,000 crowds at Newcastle & Chelsea?

[Merrick's Marvels]

1 hour ago, phantom said:

Doesn't the recent rebuild of the ground show enough ambition?

No, I don't think so actually Phantom.

Forget ambition, it was done out of necesity if we were ever to be a serious Championship club. All it's done is bring us into the 21st century, update our facilities so they're the equivalent of everyone else in this division. A £45M stadium upgrade was the bare minimum required just to enable us to compete in the Championship, never mind the Prem.

It's the equivalent of running to stand still, imo, a reflection of how far we'd been left behind off the pitch at Championship level.

This isn't intended to sound ungrateful but sometimes the truth hurts - off the pitch we were a joke compared to other Championship clubs. Now, with the stadium upgrade and appointment of the right staff in key positions, we have levelled the playing field and so given ourselves half a chance of sustained success.   

[CotswoldRed]

4 hours ago, Silvio Dante said:

Of the 18 houses (47-64), 8 have sold in the last three years (would imagine if there was a plan, it wouldn't go back any further than that because of when AV was on the agenda). The total sale price has been apx £2.7m, with numbers sold being 48,55,56,57,58,60,62,64. 

What does this say? It says that if you own 59,61 or 63 the price just went up! (59 last sold in 2007, 63 in 2004 and 61 in 1995).

I wouldn't be totally shocked if the club had bought some of the houses, but as the above illustrates it'd be either long term waiting game or extremely costly to get final ownership of the terrace - and considering how quickly clubs fortunes can fluctuate, it would be a surprise

Costly, yes, but in the absence of anything else its an asset that can be rented out and sold again in an appreciating market. In which case it's low risk. 

[havanatopia]

Quite agree with that Merrick. We may be in the Prem sooner than people think. If City have no plan for the Atyeo then they will look rather silly not building a bigger South Stand in my opinion. 

That said with 100 million or thereabouts for ending up bottom one could always tear either the Dolman or the SS down; with those houses there the Atyeo is the least attractive to redevelop because the capacity gain is relatively neglible unless you square the circle with the old chestnut of 'right to light'.  

[Coombsy]

Wicks and dreams  site to have an hotel built on it

[RedRaw]

28 minutes ago, Coombsy said:

Wicks and dreams  site to have an hotel built on it

We knew that as rumour but anything more concrete to substantiate it?

[GrahamC]

9 hours ago, RedRaw said:

Bar BS3 stated "Buying up those houses would cost half the cost of all our rebuild"

Rebuild cost = £45,000,000

Buying up houses = £7,5000,000

My point still stands

It doesn't.

What if just one person who is living there now refuses to ever sell up? What if they are aged in their mid thirties with no plan to ever move out?

It is not inconceivable that they could still be living there in 2060!

Even if it was the (highly unlikely) case that the club has somehow been surreptitiously buying every single house there as it became available, that theoretical possibility stretches the very definition of long term planning beyond logic.

I sometimes think those posting this sort of thing about the club/SL buying houses in Ashton Road simply have no idea about Bristol's current property market (which frankly is completely mental) or how house buying works. It really isn't that simple.

[Ashtonboy]

8 hours ago, Snufflelufagus said:

To be fair if and a big IF we every made the Prem would it be that financially unviable? there are approx. 17 houses behind the atyeo and if we offered £350,000 each (anvery good price) that would cost approx. £6million.

You are way out on your valuation.. 3 bed semis in the area are now selling for £400K. I lived in one of the 3 story houses for many years and they are huge (4 double beds). My.sister owned one of the 2 story houses and they are far bigger than the red brick semis in the area. Think more like £450 for two 2 story houses and over £500K for the 3 story, without even considering the premiums that would be added if the owners new it was the club buying them.

[Guest]

34 minutes ago, Ashtonboy said:

You are way out on your valuation.. 3 bed semis in the area are now selling for £400K. I lived in one of the 3 story houses for many years and they are huge (4 double beds). My.sister owned one of the 2 story houses and they are far bigger than the red brick semis in the area. Think more like £450 for two 2 story houses and over £500K for the 3 story, without even considering the premiums that would be added if the owners new it was the club buying them.

Case in point - no 64 went for 440k this year

[bcfcrobin]

41 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

It doesn't.

What if just one person who is living there now refuses to ever sell up? What if they are aged in their mid thirties with no plan to ever move out?

It is not inconceivable that they could still be living there in 2060!

Even if it was the (highly unlikely) case that the club has somehow been surreptitiously buying every single house there as it became available, that theoretical possibility stretches the very definition of long term planning beyond logic.

I sometimes think those posting this sort of thing about the club/SL buying houses in Ashton Road simply have no idea about Bristol's current property market (which frankly is completely mental) or how house buying works. It really isn't that simple.

Tottenham and Liverpool had similar issues so the council forced the owners to sell their properties through a compulsory purchase order. Tottenham moved over 70 businesses. If we were selling out every other game you would hope the council would help. 

[tts_city]

14 minutes ago, bcfcrobin said:

Tottenham and Liverpool had similar issues so the council forced the owners to sell their properties through a compulsory purchase order. Tottenham moved over 70 businesses. If we were selling out every other game you would hope the council would help. 

I do admire your optimism.

[CotswoldRed]

15 minutes ago, bcfcrobin said:

Tottenham and Liverpool had similar issues so the council forced the owners to sell their properties through a compulsory purchase order. Tottenham moved over 70 businesses. If we were selling out every other game you would hope the council would help. 

The council wouldn't get involved. They're too busy talking and eating buffets. 

[RedRaw]

57 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

It doesn't.

What if just one person who is living there now refuses to ever sell up? What if they are aged in their mid thirties with no plan to ever move out?

It is not inconceivable that they could still be living there in 2060!

Even if it was the (highly unlikely) case that the club has somehow been surreptitiously buying every single house there as it became available, that theoretical possibility stretches the very definition of long term planning beyond logic.

I sometimes think those posting this sort of thing about the club/SL buying houses in Ashton Road simply have no idea about Bristol's current property market (which frankly is completely mental) or how house buying works. It really isn't that simple.

What are you waffling on about?

At no point did I suggest the club are buying houses or mention the Bristol housing market, the clubs long term plans or the price of frigging eggs........my point was a simple case of mathematics based on what Bar BS3 quoted, which he has subsequently accepted.

 

[Mad Cyril]

9 hours ago, Bar BS3 said:

f you really have issues with SL at his conduct at the helm of this club then I don't think anything is ever going to change your mind because it must be some personal vendetta against the man who goes above and beyond the call of duty in trying to take this club forward. 

But apart from the new stadium and the team.....

[Maesknoll Red]

1 hour ago, GrahamC said:

It doesn't.

What if just one person who is living there now refuses to ever sell up? What if they are aged in their mid thirties with no plan to ever move out?

 

You just rent the properties either side to *an outlaw motorcycle club as a clubhouse/rastafarians/a scummy family or single parent with 8 kids/drug dealers/gays/straights/students/nosey old people/paedophiles/migrants/Joey Barton/Ched Evans/etc.  You just need to find their predjudice or tipping point.