Spanish LaLiga football club Valencia has revealed that a deal has been reached that will release the funds that will allow work to recommence on its long-stalled new stadium project.
The development of the Nuevo Mestalla has become one of the longest-running sagas in the global stadium and arena industry, with construction work on the project having been suspended in February 2009.
In May 2018, Valencia agreed a partnership with professional and financial services company Deloitte as it sought to step up work on the new stadium. Deloitte was brought in as a key partner for the revised plans for the Nuevo Mestalla, which have seen a re-design of the stadium in an effort to have the facility in place for the 2021-22 season.
One of Deloitte’s four core responsibilities was to guide the sale of the current Mestalla site, Valencia’s home since 1923. This has now seemingly been achieved with Valencia general director Mateu Alemany announcing that an agreement for the current Mestalla site has been reached with ADU Mediterráneo.
“When speaking about a sale in real estate one always needs to be precise,” Alemany said at a press conference. “It occurs when there is a public deed and that is still far away. We are about to sign an initial agreement and we will do it with ADU Mediterráneo. We have accepted their binding offer and ADU has an exclusive situation; Valencia will not be able to transfer the land.”
The sale of the land will result in construction being able to proceed on Nuevo Mestalla. Alemany did not confirm the value of the deal, although he admitted it exceeds €100m (£86.6m/$113m). He said: “We are subject to a confidentiality contract so the magic figure cannot be given. I can confirm that it would be above the net book value, which is the value that appears in the books of the value of the plot of Mestalla – that is around €113m.”
Alemany continued: “(The figure would be) close to be able to fully finance the works of the new stadium and is well above €100m. Bankia knows the operation. It is an important agreement. There is data from Deloitte that indicates that it will be a great success.”
Under the current project terms, the new 61,500-seat stadium needed to be completed by May 2021, with the old Mestalla demolished in 2023. Alemany conceded that this timeline will need to be shifted, adding that Valencia now expects to move into its new home in time for the 2022-23 season.
He said: “In a normal situation with goodwill between the parties we could leave Mestalla then and move to the new one. The cost is difficult to estimate. The stadium architects are already working on the execution process to arrive on time. Our idea is that the figure we will receive from the cooperative would be close to financing the construction of the new stadium.”
Image: Valencia
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