Millwall’s 34,000-seat stadium expansion is drawing closer with Lewisham Council set to extend the club’s lease of the site.
Lewisham plans to give the Championship club a 999-year lease – also paving the way for housing to be built around The Den.
Mayor Brenda Dacres and Lewisham Council’s cabinet will make a final decision at a public meeting on Wednesday, May 8.
It all forms part of the New Bermondsey – a 30-acre redevelopment of the old industrial area which includes the ground itself.
Approved in January 2022, it will see 3,500 homes built in the area around The Den over the coming years.
The lease extension would help Millwall FC unlock the stadium’s land for redevelopment as part of future phases.
Lewisham Council is the freeholder of the site and Millwall FC’s current lease only lasts until 2143.
Council planners believe a 999-year lease is needed to allow a “comprehensive redevelopment” of the site.
A stadium revamp is at the heart of the New Bermondsey redevelopment.
It would mean expanding the capacity from 20,000 to 34,000 with new seats being built as additional upper tiers behind the existing seating bowl.
Initial concept designs for the new stadium have seen it compared to the famous Colosseum in Rome.
The exact number of homes that could be built under the new lease is unclear but the club announced plans in 2020 to create “a vibrant new community”.
The fact the new lease will allow the construction of residential buildings – forbidden under the lease’s current terms – suggests new homes are planned.
The club has previously said a new public plaza and a hotel could be built.
The extended lease will also apply to the Lions Centre meaning Millwall Community Trust can continue to operate from it.
Plans for The Den’s redevelopment nearly went in a very different direction in 2016.
Lewisham Council said it wanted to take some of its land back from the club and hand it to developer Renewal.
Millwall threatened to leave the borough and the plans were scrapped the following year amid calls for Sir Steve Bullock, the borough’s mayor at the time, to step down.
The new lease agreement would suggest a new era of cooperation between the club and Lewisham Council.
“A revised lease structure has several benefits for the council, including enabling the development of much-needed housing and provision of a new community facility,” council documents said.
“Millwall are an important and valued stakeholder in the borough, providing jobs and driving spend and commercial activity so a lease structure which supports development will in turn support the sustainability of Millwall and will further support jobs, employment and economic activity.”
The redevelopment would benefit Millwall by providing more matchday revenue and creating new income streams through new assets.
But any development would be some years away as Millwall would still have to apply for planning permission to develop its land and rebuild The Den.