Sellar's £600m Pompey spectacular

The scheme, designed by Swiss-based architects Herzog & de Meuron, will include a 36,000 seater football stadium and more than 1m sq ft (929,022 sq m) of residential on a 13 acre (5.2 ha) site adjacent to the city’s dockyards. There will also be a 1.5 acre (0.6 ha) public space, as well as leisure uses, restaurants and cafes.

The pair will also redevelop the club’s 17 acre (6.9 ha) Fratton Park site, from which Pompey has been playing since 1899. It is anticipated that planning consent for the Fratton Park redevelopment will be secured at the same time as the waterfront development, which will involve around 13 acres (5.2 ha) of land reclaimed from the harbour.

Sellar has appointed MAKE architects to produce a development of around 750 homes on the Fratton Park site. Part of the site, including the current car park and adjacent land, could be developed while the club continues to play at Fratton Park.

The club and Sellar have formed a joint venture company in which both Fratton Park and the waterfront development will be held, and are expected to seek development finance to complete the overall project.

Planning applications for the proposed development will be submitted in the autumn. Subject to consent, reclamation work could get underway by 2008, and construction of the stadium the following year. It is anticipated that Pompey will be playing in the new stadium by in 2011.

Portsmouth Football Club is now owned by Alexandre Gaydamak, and has had a long standing relationship with Sellar. James Sellar, chief executive of Sellar, said: ‘We are proposing a Waterfront Quarter of the highest quality design set amidst the historic dockyards. This scheme is set to become an international icon reflecting Portsmouth’s historic and future status as one of the UK’s principal cities.’