It is now or never for the city of Leeds to unlock potentially billions of pounds of investment around Elland Road, according to Leeds United director Peter Lowy.Lowy is one of the most significant shareholders within the 49ers Enterprises ownership at Elland Road. While he keeps some distance from on-pitch or transfer matters, his expertise, after decades at the helm of shopping centre giant Westfield, is in developing the stadium and the land around it.He is speaking to The Athletic at UKREiiF, a real estate investment and infrastructure forum being held in Leeds this week. Lowy has just been on stage, explaining why he feels a tram system is so important to the city, when he sits down for our interview.While the redevelopment of the stadium has planning permission and will accelerate through the close season, the future of the 30 acres of land around the ground is foremost in Lowy’s mind. He is concerned about the pace at which an agreement on a tram system is being reached.“DfT (Department for Transport) slowed down the work for the business case and pushed it out a few years and, for us, that’s very difficult because we can’t sit around until 2035 waiting for them to tell us whether they’re going to build the tram or not,” said Lowy. “With capital like ours, ready to go do a job, we can invest in lots of different places.“This is a very good project, and the sooner the government can get its act together, within a reasonable time, so the bureaucracy can do its job, the sooner we can invest the money. When you look at the site, if you do get the tram, you could invest somewhere between £1billion and £2bn.Peter Lowy was speaking at UKREiiF (UKREiiF)“You could build 2,500 homes, which are sorely needed in the city. You could build a hotel, offices and a neighbourhood shopping centre, which is vital for that part of town.“What we need is the government’s commitment, so we know it’s actually happening. You don’t need to wait until it’s finished for us to start, but we need their commitment, so they have to do the business case, then allocate the funds and, in essence, sign the contracts to build it.”Just this week, DfT announced the formation of a new taskforce, which will tackle barriers to the delivery of mass transit systems across the UK, supporting economic growth, jobs and new homes. It is called the Mass Transit Taskforce and it will bring together experts from planning and industry to speed up the process of unblocking development.Transport secretary Heidi Alexander said the taskforce “will use its skills and vast knowledge to deliver real and practical recommendations to shape the future of urban transport for years to come”.Sources at the DfT, who spoke under the condition of anonymity to protect relationships, said it was now awaiting West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s (WYCA) business case for mass transit in Leeds. They also pushed back against Lowy’s suggestion DfT was responsible for slowing down any business case, pointing instead to WYCA’s December statement on a revised plan for development and delivery, which pushed back the first tram services from the mid-2030s to the late 2030s.