I think this line from the article is key:
"It's tough to recruit players when we're playing in the stadium that we are," Howe said. "The training ground, as beautiful as it is, the size, the lack of space - again that's a difficulty for us."
My guess (and hope) is that he's priming the pump for an announcement from the team very soon. If the club has any say in this (though it's possible they're at the mercy of some level of government), they will want to make a splashy announcement before, or at the beginning of, the summer transfer window. It would be a critical bargaining chip to be able to show prospective signings the designs for the new stadium (knowing it is approved and moving ahead), and to show that work is already underway on the training facility. Otherwise, we're still just a tinpot club with a popular manager.