Sainsbury's signs Bristol City stadium deal
News that City, which wants to sell its current stadium to fund a new £65 million ground at Ashton Vale, was in talks with Sainsbury's was revealed exclusively in the Bristol Evening Post.
Yesterday the club confirmed it had clinched the deal, which could see Sainsbury's move from its site in the area to Ashton Gate.
Tesco released a statement on Tuesday saying it was no longer interested in pursuing a deal with City.
If Sainsbury's does get the go-ahead, it would mean only two big supermarkets will be sited in Bedminster instead of three, which would have been the case if Tesco had moved in.
Sainsbury's already has a store off Winterstoke Road that is popular but cramped and cannot cope with demand.
A new Sainsbury's at Ashton Gate would be bigger than the one envisaged by Tesco but it would still be smaller than the combined footprint of two stores. The current Sainsbury's would be demolished and the 10-acre site sold off for housing.
Jamie Baker, Sainsbury's regional development executive, said: "This is a fantastic opportunity to work with the club to improve our store and contribute to significant regeneration of a community we've been part of for almost 20 years.
"We are continually looking at how we can improve our customers' experience of shopping with us. Although any development isn't likely to happen until 2013, relocating our existing store across the road to Ashton Gate will mean a new store with better facilities and product range, the existing site will be made available for redevelopment and it will help to provide Bristol with a state-of-the-art stadium.
"We take our role in the community very seriously and value the views of those who live and work near our stores. During the next few months we'll be working on the details of the proposals in consultation with the community, our customers and the local authority. We look forward to sharing our ideas and I encourage people to take part in the consultation to let us know their views."
Club chief executive Colin Sexstone said: "This is a win-win solution for the club, the local community and the city as a whole.
"It's a massive step towards our goal of building a new stadium."
He said a deal with Tesco would have made commercial sense but the one with Sainsbury's also took into account the views of people in the community.
He said: "This is a fantastic solution, which will still enable the club to develop its new stadium but without many of the perceived problems in the local area."
The club will still have to win planning permission for the ground to be used as a site for a new store.
But it is hoping it will be able to win widespread support.
The deal, worth more than £20m, paves the way for a new £65m football stadium at nearby Ashton Vale.
Councillors meet on Wednesday at the Council House to decide whether to grant planning permission for the stadium plan.
A meeting to discuss the Tesco plan, which was due to have been held the following night on Thursday, November 5, has now been cancelled and the planning application withdrawn.
Mr Sexstone said he hoped councillors would meet early in the new year to discuss the Sainsbury's plan and decide whether to give permission for it to go ahead.
He said: "This is a fantastic opportunity for Bristol and it's absolutely vital that we push ahead as we quickly as we can."
He said timing was crucial because the club had already begun the tendering process to build the new stadium. If time is lost, then tenders can run beyond their deadline and become void.
Mr Sexstone said the club had always made it clear it was crucial to get maximum value from Ashton Gate. He said it considered many alternatives but nothing other than "food retail" stacked up financially.
He said: "Some of the alternatives such as a swimming pool or social housing were very laudable but they would not have contributed very much towards the new stadium.
"We were in discussions with Tesco but nothing was signed.
"The advantage about the Sainsbury's plan is that it is a transfer of an existing store to Ashton Gate.
"It means there will still only be two supermarkets in the area."
Mr Sexstone said the club did not enter into a price war with the supermarket chains to secure the most money. Its aim was to do what was best for the club, the community and Bristol as a whole.
He said: "We are achieving the same amount of money as the Tesco deal but with a far better solution for everyone."
He said Sainsbury's was keen to develop a masterplan for Ashton Gate that would incorporate improvements for shops and residents in the surrounding area.
The club had a study carried out by consultants that shows a new stadium would generate about £260m in the next 10 years for the local economy. This is without extra facilities that might be built as part of the stadium complex.
There is a possibility, for example, that an arena could be built at Ashton Vale if the stadium goes ahead.
A new stadium also raises the prospect of World Cup games in Bristol.
The city is putting forward a bid to the Football Association to be a host city if England stages the tournament in 2018.
If the World Cup came to Bristol, then it is expected the tournament would generate about £100m to the local economy.
This, however, does not take into account the immeasurable benefits that the prestige of holding World Cup games would bring.
German cities are still reaping the benefit of staging World Cup games in 2006.
The new stadium will also help to bring economic growth and prosperity to South Bristol, which has suffered from a lack of investment for years.
It will, for example, help to provide a trigger for new infrastructure such as a rapid transit system (bendy buses) for south Bristol and a Portishead rail link for passengers, which will help ease congestion south of the river and unlock commercial land for investment.
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