Well, they did say the line-up of interested parties would be impressive didn't they?
I have written a story for this week's Estates Gazette about the nine parties shortlisted to buy the private housing and government development land at east London's Olympic Village.
As Estates Gazette went to press, the Olympic Delivery Authority was shortlisting nine parties for the £500m opportunity and fortunately I have managed to piece them together.
They are: Jamie Ritblat's Delancey with Qatari Diar; property investor Dorrington with Pinnacle Capital; UK housebuilder Galliard Homes; Grainger with Moorfield Group; Hong Kong-listed ports and property giant Hutchison Whampoa; US real estate giant the LeFrak Organisation with insurer Aviva and bank JP Morgan; Raymond Mould's and Patrick Vaughan's London & Stamford with housebuilders David Wilson and Sir Robert McAlpine; charitable health foundation the Wellcome Trust; and private investor William Pears Group with Manchester developer Urban Splash.
The ODA, which is being advised by Savills, put the village up for sale in October and had expected strong interest from Hong Kong, Singaporean, Chinese and Australian builders and investors, after marketing it extensively in Asia.
I have already said that Delancey, Grainger, Aviva and LeFrak would be among the bidders but I have to say I have rarely seen such an interesting and, let's be honest, wealthy shortlist of bidders for a project in my time writing about the industry.
The ones that stand out are clearly: Delancey and Qatari Diar, a teaming of high quality UK development expertise with the bottomless pockets of sovereign wealth if ever there was one; the reunited team of Grainger and Moorfield, which recently joined forces to for the £34.6m takeover of Sovereign Reversions; the powerful looking tie up of US real estate behemoth LeFrak, which has been sniffing around London for a platform for years, with Aviva, which is committed to building an institutionally backed private rented sector in the UK, and JP Morgan; the combination of the golden boys of the property downturn London & Stamford with David Wilson and Sir Robert McAlpine; and then the link up of the unfathomably wealthy William Pears Group with residential innovator Urban Splash.
But I think all of the parties will have a strong case and no doubt further match-making will be encouraged.
Whoever takes on the project will need two things in abundance - money and patience -and the good news is that these bidders do appear to have these qualities.
The village, located close to Westfield's Stratford City shopping centre at the Olympic Park in Stratford, E15, comprises 1,439 private homes at the Athletes' Village and six development plots with potential for a further 2,100-2,500 new homes.
The ODA will announce a shortlist of interested parties in spring 2011, with a final choice expected in the summer.
Leave a comment
What a user pic? Get a Gravatar!