In September 2023, a consortium bidding to buy Southend United suggested the club might remain at Roots Hall due to the "non-viability" of the stadium project.
Concerns about the viability of the housing-only development at Fossetts Farm continued, delaying completion of the club's sale until July 2024, by which time the number of homes had been reduced to no more than 850.
Billericay-based property development company Martin Dawn PLC and Delancey Estates, together forming South Eastern Leisure (SEL), took control of Southend United in November 1998.
Ron Martin said his company was "Committed to a successful football club on and off the field, both of which can be enhanced by the future possibility of a new stadium and improved facilities for all".
John Main had replaced Jobson as Southend United chairman,[3] and said: "There is no question of Roots Hall being bulldozed to the ground before we have relocated to a new stadium – this club will not be homeless.
"These board members should be made to resign after displaying their utter incompetence by allowing the company to trade in an insolvent situation," exclaimed one annoyed shareholder.
[5] In September 1999 Southend United said plans for a new multimillion-pound stadium would be presented to council chiefs within weeks with chairman John Main confident that the club would be given permission to start construction early in the new millennium.
In late May 2000 Council chief executive George Krawiec threw his weight behind the proposals but admitted that he would like to see some progress made on the planning front.
"[17] In June 2001 the club pulled out of a planning meeting set to make a decision on the Fossetts Farm proposal, citing that it "needed more time to assess the content of its project".
"[19] In August 2001, former chairman John Main warned fans that the proposal was not "financially viable" and that "there will be no stadium at Fossetts Farm and the future of the football club remains at Roots Hall.
[21] Negotiations continued into 2002,[22] with a deal announced in December 2002, allowing the club to remain at Roots Hall for three years while plans for Fossetts Farm were developed.
[23] In March 2006, Martin bought out Delancy's shareholding in Southend United,[24] and planned a new Council submission about a combined 17,000-seat stadium, retail and leisure development at Fossett's Farm.
It said this would release Martin to develop Fossetts Farm without a new stadium requirement, but it expected him to contribute funds back towards the redevelopment of Roots Hall.
[48] Details of the rescue deal were yet to be finalised, but reports suggested the club would remain at Roots Hall, with the 500 homes once planned for the site transferred to Fossetts Farm,[49] a move agreed by Southend's council in early November.
[50] On 5 December, the consortium said due diligence had raised important issues which had required further time to resolve, and some legal and procedural work remained.
[52][53] In March 2024, Southend CEO Tom Lawrence said final completion of the club's takeover could still be a couple of months away, being dependent upon a council review of the housing shift to Fossets Farm,[53] though it later emerged that obtaining the consent of Ron and son Jack Martin's finance partner (CBRE) was also delaying matters.
[54][55] In early May 2024, the council's due diligence over plans for the housing at Fossetts Farm continued, while CBRE had yet to consent to the payment structure for the Roots Hall refurbishment.
The plans proposed 800 to 850 homes in buildings no higher than four storeys, leased by Ron Martin to Southend Council under a build-to-rent finance scheme.