The Yorkshire Post has reported today that Ken Bates has ambitious plans to transform the area around Elland Road
The plans include two hotels (one will be a four-star and the other for those on a more modest budget) some food outlets and a Leeds United museum. Bates claims that the hotels would strengthen the club's conference and banqueting (C&B) business, saying "I believe that the income from an enlarged C&B market would enable us to buy a quality player every year!" But so far no start date for the development has been announced. This follows a familiar pattern, as Bates set up the Chelsea Village (comprising a hotel and luxury flats) during his spell in charge of the West London club. He also proposed a similar scheme while he was chairman of the FA subsidiary set up to oversee the construction of the new Wembley Stadium, but he was removed from this position by the FA, who thought that Mr Bates's plans for a hotel, office space and lavish banqueting facilities were too costly in relation to how much money the facilities would generate. We have to hope that his current scheme will be a success, though the 4 star hotel may prove to be too far from the city centre to be able to charge top rates to those staying in Leeds on business. The stadium was sold to Manchester businessman Jacob Adler by the Krasner board in late 2004, with Leeds United taking a 25-year lease on the site. It was sold on to British Virgin Islands-based Teak Commercial Limited in 2005, and Mr Bates has said he intends to buy back Elland Road "in the fullness of time". It has been suggested that in fact he already owns the stadium, as in the past he has owned several companies based in the Virgin Islands, but Bates has always denied this. Mr Bates says his plans complement those of Leeds City Council, which owns much of the land surrounding the ground, and these include proposals for an entertainment arena, casino, hotel, health club, police headquarters, cafes, bars and parking for about 2,700 cars. And there could finally be a new railway station where the line crosses Elland Road, and about time too! Council leader Andrew Carter said when the latest plan was unveiled: "All [council] members would like to see a halt but it would be dependent on the developments that take place and the value of those developments. In the past the line has not had sufficient capacity and there has been no money to build the facility. However, we have to fight for it because it would benefit the city in general."