The area immediately around Old Trafford has become a property hotspot with big blocks of luxury flats, hotels and so on.
I know from experience that Man Utd own a large area behind the existing ground along the canal. A company my then employer owned half of rented a factory site back there and the landlord was…. Manchester United.
If you look at the maps, it’s the area north west of Old Trafford on the south side of the canal.
So the answer is property development. The new stadium is to be back where that factory and others like it is now and the old site will become flats, shops, restaurants, bars and hotels.
The East Coast mainline railway runs past Arsenal’s new stadium. You can hardly see the ground for commercial development - in fact I worked with a company treasury guy who lived in a flat that was right under the eaves of the stadium. I think the old Highbury ground became housing too…..
PS. when I say the factory was just behind the ground, I’d guess it was a 15 minute walk and all the surrounding sites were also owned by Man Utd. That gives you an idea of their landholding and the potential of the site.
PPS. Coincidentally, I first met them at their old site which was a pokey little building in a very rundown area. They were being evicted and wanted money to move into a much bigger site to increase production which is how they came to sell 51% to us. They were being evicted because the site was being redeveloped as the then Commonwealth Games stadium as part of a giant urban redevelopment scheme. That is now Manchester City’s ground of course. Just shows how big league stadium development can trigger huge property deals.
