Hello,

Does anyone have photos of the demolition of Highbury and the building of the flats currently taking place?

Could you please post the photos below.

Thanks
Keith

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http://farm1.static.flickr.com/120/366293656_c11f15d3ae_b.jpg

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A surprising number of Tottenham fans applied for that demolition job! ;)

i dont know how to describe it looking at those pictures....one of englands oldest grounds going bye bye

She were such a beauty, that one with the seats being ripped out of the stand with no roof on is especially poignant.

The roof will be going back on I think, It wasn't just torn off, they carefully dismantled it and the artist impressions seem to include the roof and the stantions being put back in place.

A surprising number of Tottenham fans applied for that demolition job! ;)

You damn right :lol:

WTF is happening there?

I thought they planned to keep the exteriors, fill in the stands with apartments and turn the pitch into a park. Now they're demolishing it for apartments?

Someone please fill me in.

Deleted post - unintentional duplication.

WTF is happening there?

I thought they planned to keep the exteriors, fill in the stands with apartments and turn the pitch into a park. Now they're demolishing it for apartments?

Someone please fill me in.

The art deco exteriors of the east and west stands are being retained as they are listed buildings.

Does any Gunners fans know how much it cost to develop the new North Bank back in the mid '90's? And did it pay for itself in it's rather short life time?

Can't see anything on the interweb on the cost but if my memory serves me right (which is not all the time to be honest) it was somewhere around 12 to 14 million pounds.

Well if it did cost between 12-14 million pounds, I reckon it must have paid for itself over the past 10 or so years.

It's amazing how much construction costs have esculated over the past decade. What would 14 million get in regards to the new Wembley of AG? maybe some decent floodlighting!

I seem to remember a total cost to convert Highbury to an all seater ground was in the region of £40m.

http://www.afunnyoldgame.com/wp-images/af/highbury.gif

There's about six tower cranes up there now and a non stop fleet of cement mixers and dump trucks going back and forth.

http://www.afunnyoldgame.com/wp-images/af/highbury.gif


I like that. Unlike most old grounds that get completely wiped off the face of the earth and replaced with housing estates, it will be nice for the Arsenal fans to still be able to walk past the outside of the stands, same as they always have done, and re-live all those past memories, instead of trying to work out where the stands used to be. And I like the way that they've kept the shape of the pitch, and still kept it green.

It must be hard to leave a grand old stadium like this, but this is surely the best way to do it, so that it's still there in spirit.

I agree text book way to leave a stadium in a respectful way. Its almost like a living museum to the old ground. Pure perfection... well done London!

Oh my god, that was bizarre - I just felt my top lip quiver looking at those pics of the demolition - and I'm from the blue and white side! That's really quite sad to see, but great restoration plans.

any new pics from Highbury?

I'm no Arsenal fan but I find it quite depressing to loose such a great ground :ohno: I know that The Emirates is a fantastic stadium but it'll never have the character of Highbury! At least they've retained the facades of the stands; I presume they were listed?

www.buzzle.com

Slump Puts Gunners on Awkward Ground

With millions owed to the banks and the sale of flats at Highbury Square uncertain, Arsenal's January transfer kitty may be hit
Arsenal's property division intends to pay back £133.5m in loans within eight months but club directors insist that commitment will not affect January transfer budgets.

The Gunners' title challenge has failed to materialize so far this year and they look in dire need of investment in the squad. Fans looking for succor in the club's accounts would be alarmed to discover an enormous liability. "Bank loans of £133.5m are categorized as creditors falling due within one year on the basis of their expected repayment profile," note the accounts to the end of May 2008.

Arsenal's directors claim the debt is "ring-fenced" from their football-club operation and does not actually need to be repaid in full until January 2010. Instead the repayments will be funded by ongoing sales of the 680 flats at the Highbury Square old-stadium development. Shareholders were told at the club's AGM last month that 100 of 136 pre-sold flats had reached completion, giving Arsenal's property division almost £40m of the £133.5m that they intend to repay before the end of May. But, although independent valuers recently confirmed the club's valuations as reasonable, the property market continues to slide and there are no guarantees that buyers will not walk away from their deposits in the future.

"The achievement of these sales may be affected by the current downturn in the UK property market and the difficult conditions in the mortgage lending sector," said Arsenal's chairman, Peter Hill-Wood. "The Group is monitoring the position closely."

the North Bank cost circa 20m.. did we recoup that over the thirteen years it was open? Probably but it also coincided with a period when the admission prices to football exploded within England.. as a side note to all of this there are still 14.4m of debt raised on the back of this issue owing to bondholders.. dont worry too much about the repaymrnt terms though as its interest free over 138 years and turned out to be a good investment for the holders that more than recouped their stake back with fixed price season tickets over a good many years..

www.buzzle.com

Slump Puts Gunners on Awkward Ground

With millions owed to the banks and the sale of flats at Highbury Square uncertain, Arsenal's January transfer kitty may be hit
Arsenal's property division intends to pay back £133.5m in loans within eight months but club directors insist that commitment will not affect January transfer budgets.

The Gunners' title challenge has failed to materialize so far this year and they look in dire need of investment in the squad. Fans looking for succor in the club's accounts would be alarmed to discover an enormous liability. "Bank loans of £133.5m are categorized as creditors falling due within one year on the basis of their expected repayment profile," note the accounts to the end of May 2008.

Arsenal's directors claim the debt is "ring-fenced" from their football-club operation and does not actually need to be repaid in full until January 2010. Instead the repayments will be funded by ongoing sales of the 680 flats at the Highbury Square old-stadium development. Shareholders were told at the club's AGM last month that 100 of 136 pre-sold flats had reached completion, giving Arsenal's property division almost £40m of the £133.5m that they intend to repay before the end of May. But, although independent valuers recently confirmed the club's valuations as reasonable, the property market continues to slide and there are no guarantees that buyers will not walk away from their deposits in the future.

"The achievement of these sales may be affected by the current downturn in the UK property market and the difficult conditions in the mortgage lending sector," said Arsenal's chairman, Peter Hill-Wood. "The Group is monitoring the position closely."

Hmmm.. don't know if I'm reading that wrong above but the pre-sold figure is 580 of the 655 units that have so far been marketed.. what I believe it should have said above is that 100 of the 136 units so far released to them (Arsenal) from the developers had reached completion.. ie the owners had paid up and moved in..

It acknowledges that almost £40m (c30% of the total loans outstanding on the project) have been raise on approximately 100 units and remember these are the cheaper south stand units many of which do not overlook the eventual garden setting where the pitch use to be.. btw that's £400k a unit on average already and as l say the more expensive penthouse suites which wer over a £1m a pop haven't even been released yet..

No doubt the credit crunch will have an affect on selling the remaining 57 units (I noticed recently there were rentals available for between £325- £400 a week) and there may yet be buyers that have to walk away from their deposits for one reason or another but I'd still say there ia ample profitability left in this project which will not only pay off the loan mentioned above but also eventually knock off at the very least the smaller bond loan of 50m.

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The Highbury Square complex is due for completion next summer, but as you can see from these photos (taken on Tuesday) much of the development is already finished.

Highbury is being converted into 724 luxury apartments, with the iconic art deco facades of the East and West Stands being preserved as part of the project. Over 90 per cent of the apartments have now been sold, and in fact more than 100 of them are now occupied, mainly in the old Clock End.

The old playing surface will be turned into a communal garden and many of the original aspects of Highbury, such as the Marble Halls and Boardroom, have been retained.

http://www.arsenal.com/assets/_files/scaled/498x331/nov_08/gun__1227018030_highburysquare_06.jpg?ic=d58aedT

http://www.arsenal.com/assets/_files/scaled/498x331/nov_08/gun__1227017976_highburysquare_02.jpg?ic=dccd2dT

http://www.arsenal.com/assets/_files/scaled/498x289/nov_08/gun__1227018082_highburysquare_11.jpg?ic=46d1fbT

more pics:http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/highbury-square-latest?image=9