EPL club Liverpool has reached a deal "in principle" in which the Liverpool city council will "purchase the remaining three residential properties that need to be demolished" for the first phase of a redevelopment of Anfield to take place, according to Tony Barrett of the LONDON TIMES. This phase "will raise the capacity of the stadium from 45,000 to about 54,000." A planning application "will not be lodged until this summer," with work beginning in January '15 once permission for the scheme has been granted. Club officials are "increasingly confident" that the $168M (all figures U.S.) first phase will be ready for the start of the '16-17 season and "without capacity being reduced in the meantime." Liverpool "will simultaneously apply for outline planning permission for a second phase of the project that would lead to the redevelopment of the Anfield Road stand" at an additional cost of $84M, "increasing the capacity to 58,800 if that level of demand is established." The KSS-designed plan "will incorporate a new tier built on top of the existing main stand," which, when complete, will "feature a middle tier comprising executive boxes and lounges." Club Owner Fenway Sports Group has "managed to navigate its way through a painstaking process and is on the verge of delivering its preferred option" (LONDON TIMES, 4/24). In Liverpool, James Pearce noted the cost of the first phase "will be partly financed by a lucrative naming rights deal" with a major sponsor. However, the stadium's name "won't change." The red brick work on the exterior "has been designed to ensure the new stand fits in with the other three sides of Anfield." The interior "will have a series of escalators to get fans up to the top tier" (LIVERPOOL ECHO, 4/24).
