The ground - and what GFC is worth - is a bit murky.
From Accounts
May 2002
"The freehold property was professionally valued at £13,950,000 by Dunlop Heywood Lorenz of Manchester."
And this amount was reflected in the Assets of GFC.
From Accounts
May 2003
Much comment about ITV Digital
Also:
"
£12 million has been expended (on) development of the ground""
IIRC, the £14m valuation seemed high at the time.
And more than enough to cover that £12m "development of the ground" !
Apparently that valuation was on the basis of a 2nd Tier Club with 2nd Tier income.
Some years later, valuation for housing etc, was less - due to demolition costs
(£8 million perhaps ?)
....but see 2020 valuation
From Accounts
May 2008
Corporate Restructuring....
"
Priestfield Stadium was sold by the football club to Priestfield Developments Ltd for £10,000,000. GFC used the funds from this sale to reduce the agreed overdraft facility to £3,300,000."
Debt with Bank of Scotland was also transferred to Priestfield Developments.
The Accounts of
Priestfield Developments May 2008 show:
"
Bank Loans - £10,100,000"
By 2017, Priestfield Develpments had been dissolved
From Accounts
May 2020
Fixed Assets shown with a Net Book Value of
£4,641,638 (
which appears to include some other property owned by GFC for many decades)
"
The stadium was valued on an alternative use basis on 31 May 2019 by C Honeywell of Lambert Smith Hampton."
But from those accounts it is not clear whether the stadium alone is valued at a mere £1,000,000 !
Link here:>
GFC Accounts 31st May 2020
And what happened to the loan from B of S ?
Was it written off ? (
some, all ?)
Or is it still lurking in a connected company ?
For many fans to invest (another) £1,000 each (or whatever) may require a bit more transparency.