How much Nottingham Forest’s game-changing City Ground expansion is set to cost, including hidden £13m bonus

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Evangelos Marinakis is finally set to kick off his ambitions for the City Ground with plans to rebuild the Peter Taylor stand approved.

Forest’s history attracted Marinakis to the club and the City Ground plays a crucial part in that, meaning any potential expansion of the famous old stadium has had to be carefully considered.

On Thursday, though, it was finally confirmed by the club that Rushcliffe Council had approved the planning permission for the first round of expansion, the careful redevelopment of the Peter Taylor stand.

It’s never been a secret that Marinakis was desperate to expand the stadium and now he’ll finally get his chance, with the Forest owner setting aside a hefty sum of money to complete the work.

Evangelos Marinakis’ £100m+ City Ground investment

Forest are in a strong PSR position so perhaps now is the time for Marinakis to be more ambitious with his spending both on and off the pitch, undoubtedly shown in the revealed plans for the City Ground expansion.

According to the Nottingham Post, figures are already known in regards to how much the expansion will cost, but also in terms of what the works will bring to the local economy.

The report said: “The cost of the multi-million pound project was originally put at about £94 million, but by early this year that had risen to £130m.

“However, it has been estimated that a redeveloped City Ground would boost the local economy by £13m a year and would create 264 jobs.”

Marinakis’ investment will benefit Forest fans in more ways than one, then, with the boost to the local economy likely one of the key factors that saw the council support the plans.

All eyes now turn to when construction can actually begin, but there are a number of obstacles in the way before any meaningful changes will be made.

Nottingham Forest still have work to do before starting the City Ground redevelopment

The City Ground redevelopment was delayed as the stadium hosted England in June, but any hopes of kickstarting the work soon rely on a number of other requirements being fulfilled to appease the council.

The report continued: “One of the key conditions the Reds must meet concerns one of the boathouses on the banks of the river.

“Nottingham Rowing Club’s Britannia Boathouse needs to be knocked down to accommodate Forest’s plans, but before any demolition work can begin, replacement facilities must be in place. During the committee meeting, it was stated a location for the new boathouse is yet to be determined.

“Other conditions of the planning permission centre around Forest making contributions to local infrastructure. For example, the club will be required to pay more than £1m to improve local bus services and £200,000 for cycle improvements along Lady Bay Bridge.”

Marinakis must be growing tired of the delays to a project that has been years in the making, but at least there is now light at the end of the tunnel for the Peter Taylor stand redevelopment.