Everton originally tried to find land in Liverpool but eventually settled on the site, off Higher Road and Finch Lane in Halewood. Some Halewood residents fought the plans as the training complex and academy was built on greenbelt land. Finch Farm was acquired in 2006 by Everton who later sold the land on for £2.1 million and then had it developed to the club's specification by developers ROM Capital (an arm of the aAim Group) who as of March 2010 are known as Hudson Capital Properties. Finch Farm was designed by North-West-based architects
AFL. The contract was valued at £9million. A site worker was killed during the final stages of development. On completion, Finch Farm was valued by ROM Capital at £17 m. Everton signed a 50-year tenancy agreement with ROM Capital for Finch Farm. Everton have an option to purchase the site every 5 years. Between the 2006/07 and 2007/08 financial accounts' "Other Operating Costs" increased significantly from £11.7m to £21.1m. The club largely attributed this rise to Finch Farm in the club's Financial Review in the annual report: "Further significant increases in operating costs were also incurred in the year following the opening of the new Finch Farm training facility. The additional operating costs compared with those incurred at
Bellefield are seen as a necessary investment to provide the appropriate training facilities required by both first team players and academy players at a Premier League club of Everton's standing." In October 2011, Hudson Capital Properties put Finch Farm on sale, the asking price was £15.3million. It was sold in May 2013 to
Liverpool City Council for £12.9million. On 8 July 2016, Liverpool City Council announced that £4m will be spent on improvements on the training grounds. == Structure and facilities ==