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Chelsea "significantly increased the projected cost of redeveloping Stamford Bridge" to more than £1B ($1.32B), which would make it the most expensive stadium in Europe, according to Matt Hughes of the LONDON TIMES. The club has "yet to reveal a price for the ambitious project" but reportedly internal discussions have placed the cost at double the £500M ($660.8M) that was estimated when it received planning permission for the 60,000-capacity stadium from Hammersmith & Fulham Council in January. Chelsea's plans, drawn up by Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron, are "among the most ambitious and complex stadium-design projects attempted." The cost of building Tottenham's new ground, which is due to open at the start of next season, has "almost doubled" to £800M ($1.06B) and Chelsea's "stunning rebuild" could finish up costing more than £1B. One source familiar with the project said that it "may ultimately cost more than" the NFL Atlanta Falcons' Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the N.Y. Giants' MetLife Stadium, the two NFL "super stadiums" that were both built for approximately £1.2B ($1.59B) and are "thought to be the most expensive in the world." Chelsea attributed the "spiralling cost" to "factors relating to the length and complexity of the build, which at a projected five or six years is considerably longer than Tottenham's two-year project." Chelsea declined to comment on the plans (
LONDON TIMES, 11/17).
