If all goes according to plan, the Hawks will be established at the new facility within five or six years, though they say it could take five to 10 years. Supporters watch Hawthorn players at the final training day of 2012 Waverley. Credit:Sebastian Costanzo The new headquarters will cost several times the $7 million-plus the club is paying for the land, with the Hawks hoping to receive a significant return from the sale or lease of their Waverley base. Hawthorn president Andrew Newbold said the cost of the new facility was not set yet. The funding strategy for the new facility "will be done over the next 18 months to two years". The cost of the Dingley base is likely to comfortably exceed the nearly $30 million Essendon has outlayed for its Tullamarine base.

The Hawks will rely heavily on their own Hawthorn Foundation, and wealthy rank and file supporters. If they follow the template of other clubs, they will also seek funds from the AFL and governments, and perhaps share the enormous facility with community organisations. The Dingley Village site that could soon be home to the Hawthorn Football Club. Credit:Eddie Jim Newbold said there were two reasons for the move. "We want an elite training facility and administration facility, to align with our values of being a destination club. That's one bucket. The next is if you've got 80,000 members, how do you engage with them? ... We think this facility can tick that box." The Hawks have spent the past three years investigating a move from Waverley to an expanded HQ, where they can accomodate the club's growth in staff, player needs and membership and "future proof" themselves "for 100 years." They say they have run out of room at Waverley, which is surrounded by housing, with limited parking and capacity to expand. The club believes Waverley Park – state of the art several years ago – would rank "bottom four" in the AFL as a facility today.

The Dingley site – which club chief executive Stuart Fox said could "easily" accomodate five MCG-sized footy ovals – will have space to expand their HQ, giving them another oval or two for training, plus car parking, larger indoor facilities and the potential for community involvement. The club, assisted by consultant Chris Dare, has negotiated directly with the owner of the site – where the Din San nursery is based – and has an 18-month due diligence period, in which to confirm the sale and the subsequent move. But the Hawks, having investigated the site thoroughly, are confident that the move will go ahead. This will mean letting go of the Ricoh Centre at Waverley Park, where the Hawks moved late in 2004 and own 85 per cent of the building (freehold), in a complicated deal involving the developer Mirvac and the state government. "We certainly intend, provided our due diligence comes up clean, to complete the contract of sale," said Newbold. "We've had a positive indication so far that planning is positive." The owners have agreed to sell half of their land, keeping their business on what would be their half of the land, Newbold explained. Newbold said the price of the Dingley land was "$7 million to $8 million" which could be paid for "out of our cash reserves". The Dingley site is a similar distance from the CBD as Waverley.

Fox briefed the playing group about the new headquarters on Tuesday, though a number of them had known about the Dingley plans. Jarryd Roughead, Jack Gunston and Liam Shiels went to EPL clubs Arsenal and Tottenham with Fox to learn more about those teams' facilities over summer. "The players are particularly excited about it," said Newbold. Fox added: "We have been extremely impressed with what some of the EPL clubs have done and some of the NFL clubs have done." Fox called the New York Jets' base "an inspiring facility.”