O’Rourke in the frame as Foxes’ stadium expansion set for kick off

Plans to expand Leicester City’s football stadium are set to be approved with Laing O’Rourke being lined up to carry out the job, Building understands.Planning officers at the city council have recommended councillors give the green light to the redevelopment proposals, which would bring the King Power Stadium’s capacity up to 40,000 seatsA report to council members said the redevelopment would help the East Midlands club, currently languishing at the bottom of the Premier League table, “remain competitive” within the competition.O’Rourke, currently building Everton’s new ground, is believed to be negotiating with the Foxes over the price of the work. Building understands that McLaren, which built the club’s £120m training academy, is not in the running for the scheme.The build would see an upper tier added above the eastern stand, partially wrapped around the north and south stands, adding 8,000 seats to the existing stadium, which was designed by Holmes Miller and completed in 2002.The proposals, drawn up by KSS Architects, the firm behind the ongoing Anfield Road stand rebuild at Liverpool’s ground, also include a 20-storey residential building with 234 homes of various tenures, a 220-room hotel, a 6,000-capacity arena for events, a multi-storey car park and a club retail store.It is understood that Leicester’s new stand will be built behind the existing stadium, and then adjoined during an off-season.The report to council members said the development would “enable increased capacity for concerts and non-sporting events, enhancing the profile of the city in hosting such events and contributing to [Leicester’s] economy and cultural offering”.The council’s planning and development control committee will decide on Wednesday whether to allow the development to go ahead.Previously known as the Walkers Stadium, the venue was completed by Birse, later bought by Balfour Beatty for £32m in 2006.The firm was forced to write off £5.5m in bad debt after the club was put into administration in October 2002, with the cost of the ground and the club’s then relegation from the top flight being blamed for the administration.