Saints new Training base to now be at Seaford!!!!!!

[RBnW]

Its not far from Eastlink and the Frankston freeway and will be very easy to get to.

If you think it's easy to get to from the freeway, have you tried to get back to the freeway?

It is currently a very quiet area with not much traffic and I cant wait to see the transformation over the next few years.

The residents of the quiet area might not be too impressed.

I am very happy that we can finally get started on the damn thing! I am sick of waiting for a decision.

Sick of waiting for a decision? You’re hard to please…..there’s been 3 so far!

The "plus all additional costs" part concerns me but if it can be done for less than $2M then it's a good option for us.

You are right to be concerned because we’re up for all costs over $9 million (and our cost estimating hasn’t got a good track record has it).

Anyway, do you think the club has $2 million?

apparently it is something like the saints get 50 year lease at $1 a year and the also sole rights to say who uses the ground besides us.

I wonder how many other clubs are located at the reserve (junior footy and cricket for starters). Are they happy with the arrangements you would wonder.

They other key is it has been signed off and will be started very soon. This is fantastic news.

Excuse my cynicism, but haven't we heard this before?

im thinking its the best short term solution . . . . . for 5 or so years . . .

remember the AFL is bleating about another Botique stadium that it needs (35000-50000) . . . and all signs point to eastern or south eastern suburbs. . . . expect the saint's to be in the mix for a full on training facility with any new stadium.

(most new stadiums built around the world are paired with an elite facility training, medical, recovery and admin buildings )

think Lexus centre attatched to a 35000 size stadium in SE Suburbs in 10 years time... and the saints name all over it.

It’s actually 20-30,000 people for the proposed boutique stadium.

And, while it may well be in the south-eastern suburbs, it won’t be at Belvedere Park. It might just be where MFC will be.

We were running out of time, that's the point.

You are right - that is the point!

We ran here, we ran there. We were like chooks without heads.

We rushed into the Frankston Park arrangement just to show that the new board was going to make a difference.

We continue to run out of time, promoting crap decisions.

the best deal was frankston park.

Seeing we’re looking retrospectively, the best deal was actually Casey Fields! (barley….I didn’t suggest the retrospective look, pilgram did).

and an G sized ground maintained for the club by the council......there must be a big saving with this too.....

Are you sure the Council will be maintaining the oval?

anyone have pictures of those designs they were showing at the press confrence?

Ohh, another set of pretty sketches is there?

the deal at caset field was not what you keep rolling out as the $4m...to the club it was around $500k .....you know that the club had to build what casey wanted including 2 basketball courts and a few other things....
not a very good deal and nothing like the Frankston deal.....but you know that...just dont want to share it do you...

you being the council expert can validate how good a deal Frankston is, but lets have a shot at it here, now together

Lease
Moorabbin 50 years at $100k each year = $5m
Belverdere 50 years at $1 each year = $50
Savings $4,950,000 yes that is millions

Oval Maintainance
Moorabbin 50 years at $500k each year = $25m
Belvedere 50 years at $10k each year = $500k
Savings $24,500,000 yes more millions

total savings Moorabbin v Belvedere $29,450,000 yes lots of millions

you are right, we ran here to quickly, took the first deal that came along... should have waited for a better deal from Smelly town. .....knee jerk board and executives....how dare they save us $29,450,000 (millions)and take our players to an elite training facility in the heart of our existing supporter base that will help this grow over then next 20 years.....

while we are here....on the boutique stadium...if built and if at Casey ...whoever owns it will pay us to play there.....the afl will want to play 20 or more games a year if it is built......and the home team will not get to train on the ground if there are that many afl and maybe vfl games being played there every week and they wont build it unless they play games there every week.....

So its Frankston (Belvedere is in Frankston City Council area) and a saving to the club of $29,000,000 an asset of $11,000,000 and a debt of $1.43m and an elite training centre an MCG sized oval that the club controls.......and best of all No Smell.....

[BAM! (shhhh)]

I've stayed out of the general threads on this; I don't have a whole lot of care factor - I live about 15 minutes walk from Linton St, but can't make training, so where they train has little impact on me...

I've got friends who live in that area. Belvedere Park is NOT hard to get to. Thanks to Eastlink, it's more accessible to most Melbournites than Moorabbin I would think. This location will upset the habits of some who are used to the way it's done now, but will probably suit a lot more people in the long run.

The freehold is unfortunate, again, thanks to Eastlink, and it's proximity to (funnily enough) Frankston, and to the beach (and now there's an AFL team in the area too...), Seaford is a likely growth area. While I certainly take JBs points around assett liquidity, and the unlikelihood of leveraging for borrowing, my view is that it's always good to have options. Still, with the sudden growth of the assett ledger regardless and 50 years security, it's not like the club isn't going to have plenty of opportunities to invest in the area's growth (or anything it wants to) and become central to the local culture.

Most importantly in my view, it solifies the footprint suggested when the Frankston move was first announced - St Kilda's in our name, we retain Moorabbin (Bayside) branding with our new VFL home at Sandringham, and we now extend that down to Frankston with our new home in Seaford. While it's not going to change anyone's loyalties overnight, it delivers a nice potential advantage for club marketing to expand and brand the AFL fanbase of some of Melbourne's prime suburbs.

I don't know how Belvedere Park and Seaford stack up against Casey specifically, but I think the long term potential of the deal is good... and in the short term, I'm happy the training facilities are coming.

[timtam]

I've stayed out of the general threads on this; I don't have a whole lot of care factor - I live about 15 minutes walk from Linton St, but can't make training, so where they train has little impact on me...

I've got friends who live in that area. Belvedere Park is NOT hard to get to. Thanks to Eastlink, it's more accessible to most Melbournites than Moorabbin I would think. This location will upset the habits of some who are used to the way it's done now, but will probably suit a lot more people in the long run.

The freehold is unfortunate, again, thanks to Eastlink, and it's proximity to (funnily enough) Frankston, and to the beach (and now there's an AFL team in the area too...), Seaford is a likely growth area. While I certainly take JBs points around assett liquidity, and the unlikelihood of leveraging for borrowing, my view is that it's always good to have options. Still, with the sudden growth of the assett ledger regardless and 50 years security, it's not like the club isn't going to have plenty of opportunities to invest in the area's growth (or anything it wants to) and become central to the local culture.

Most importantly in my view, it solifies the footprint suggested when the Frankston move was first announced - St Kilda's in our name, we retain Moorabbin (Bayside) branding with our new VFL home at Sandringham, and we now extend that down to Frankston with our new home in Seaford. While it's not going to change anyone's loyalties overnight, it delivers a nice potential advantage for club marketing to expand and brand the AFL fanbase of some of Melbourne's prime suburbs.

I don't know how Belvedere Park and Seaford stack up against Casey specifically, but I think the long term potential of the deal is good... and in the short term, I'm happy the training facilities are coming.

Brilliant post! Common sense at last!!!!

Let's face it, if you truly love the Saints, you will follow them ANYWHERE!!!! Stop looking at the negatives and embrace the move! New facilities and improved conditions are a must, not just for training purposes, but also for recruiting new players to the club. Lets face it, would you want to come to the saints after you have taken a tour of Moorabbin and it's current facilities (or lack thereof)?

[GrumpyOne]

I've stayed out of the general threads on this; I don't have a whole lot of care factor - I live about 15 minutes walk from Linton St, but can't make training, so where they train has little impact on me...

I've got friends who live in that area. Belvedere Park is NOT hard to get to. Thanks to Eastlink, it's more accessible to most Melbournites than Moorabbin I would think. This location will upset the habits of some who are used to the way it's done now, but will probably suit a lot more people in the long run.

The freehold is unfortunate, again, thanks to Eastlink, and it's proximity to (funnily enough) Frankston, and to the beach (and now there's an AFL team in the area too...), Seaford is a likely growth area. While I certainly take JBs points around assett liquidity, and the unlikelihood of leveraging for borrowing, my view is that it's always good to have options. Still, with the sudden growth of the assett ledger regardless and 50 years security, it's not like the club isn't going to have plenty of opportunities to invest in the area's growth (or anything it wants to) and become central to the local culture.

Most importantly in my view, it solifies the footprint suggested when the Frankston move was first announced - St Kilda's in our name, we retain Moorabbin (Bayside) branding with our new VFL home at Sandringham, and we now extend that down to Frankston with our new home in Seaford. While it's not going to change anyone's loyalties overnight, it delivers a nice potential advantage for club marketing to expand and brand the AFL fanbase of some of Melbourne's prime suburbs.

I don't know how Belvedere Park and Seaford stack up against Casey specifically, but I think the long term potential of the deal is good... and in the short term, I'm happy the training facilities are coming.

Brilliant post! Common sense at last!!!!

Let's face it, if you truly love the Saints, you will follow them ANYWHERE!!!! Stop looking at the negatives and embrace the move! New facilities and improved conditions are a must, not just for training purposes, but also for recruiting new players to the club. Lets face it, would you want to come to the saints after you have taken a tour of Moorabbin and it's current facilities (or lack thereof)?

I agree it's a brilliant post.

Robert Harvey Park will be a great facility for the Saints for as long as Moorabbin was, and that will see my lifetime out.

However, I don't like people p1ssing on my back and then telling me its raining. The club's announcement shouldn't have hidden the no freehold issue underneath a pile of spin. If the offer is as good as Joffa and RBW say it is, there was no need to hide the negatives, as the positives clearly exceed them. Tell it how it is; PR crap just heightens the suspicions.

Nor being an accountant, I cannot argue the worth of freehold vs leasehold assets. I just remember my old Grandfather saying to me that they can burn down your building, they cannot burn down your land. I think a lot of Aussies have the same view, hence the drive to home ownership in this country. I still think the possession of land is something to aspire to. I would have liked to see the Saints in a permanent home before I play full-forward with the great team in the sky, but obviously I'm not.

RBW obviously has info and figures not available to the proletariat. I hope he is right with his earnest assertions that this is better than a bucket load of Christmasses to an orphan.

Where our base is is immaterial, as long as the Saints continue to exist in some recognisable form. I'd follow them anywhere, but I still have recurrent nightmares as to just how close we came to being another Fitzroy.

I hope Archie and the Board have got this right. There will be no further opportunities like we have right now.

Go Sainters For Ever.