The Dunedin City Council has confirmed a $2.3 million loss from the sale of Carisbrook, and revealed a complicated financial arrangement with the new owner.
Mayor Dave Cull, at a media conference this afternoon, confirmed the council would recoup $4.7 million of the $7 million it paid for the historic sports stadium in 2009.
However, Calder Stewart, the company that bought the ground off the council, had only been prepared to pay $3 million up front, Mr Cull confirmed.
Instead, a deal had been struck that meant the company would pay at least $3.3 million, but deferred for up to three years, with payments made as the ground was subdivided and sold by Calder Stewart, he said.
The sum paid would rise to $3.5 million if demolition was not completed within six months, meaning the council would keep a $200,000 bond paid by the company, Mr Cull said.
The deal would also see the company make up any difference at the end of three years, meaning the council was guaranteed its money, he said.
However, the loss came on top of holding costs incurred by the council, as well as the cost of bailing out the Otago Rugby Football Union, that together totalled more than $1 million.
An earlier $2 million loan to the ORFU by the council, repaid at the time Carisbrook was purchased by the council, was not added to the overall loss, Mr Cull said.
The repaid cash was used by the council to help purchase the old ground.
The announcement came at a packed media conference at lunchtime, fronted by Mr Cull, council chief executive Paul Orders and city property manager Robert Clark.
A paper trail of documents detailing the entire history of the Carisbrook purchase and sale would also be released later today.
