It seems like a lifetime ago that Tottenham Hotspur announced their plans for the Northumberland Development Project (NDP). It even seems like a long time ago that Spurs were flirting with a move to the Olympic Stadium. Soon, however, Tottenham's move to a new stadium will take off and it all begins with a supermarket.
This morning Tottenham announced that they have appointed a construction company for the supermarket to be built as part of the NDP. The Supermarket, which will be operated by Sainsbury's, will create 250 jobs in Tottenham and is seen as an important step in the regeneration of the Tottenham area. Construction will begin later this month with an expected completion date of late 2013 or early 2014.
The new supermarket, which will be one of the largest of its kind in London, is 130,000 sq ft with a sales floor area of 72,000 sq ft. Dedicated support will be in place to help local people access these jobs. This phase of the development also includes 110,000 sq ft of commercial/educational space above the supermarket. The company doing the construction, McClaren Construction, also did the work on Tottenham's new training ground in Bulls Cross.
I know that the announcement that construction on a supermarket doesn't seem terribly exciting. We all want to know when the Club will be breaking ground on the new stadium, but these other development projects are just as important as the stadium. The regeneration of the area around White Hart Lane is hugely important. First, it's one of the major reasons why the City of London and Mayor Boris Johnson agreed to give us as much public funding as they did. Second, the area just needs help. More jobs and new development will just make the area more desirable.
The news I most want to hear is that there is work on new transportation links starting, but I'll take any work at this point. This makes me much more confident that we will actually see a new stadium. I was beginning to worry that the club would be stuck in the planning stages of this construction project for forever.
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