February 2011 Archives

I am not quite sure what this all means Olympics-wise just yet but it appears that Baroness Ford, the chairman of the Olympic Park Legacy Company, could be about to take up a lead role in development and regeneration in Jersey.
According to the BBC, Jersey's Treasury Minister senator Philip Ozouf has recommended Ford as chairman of the States Development Company.

I was unable to attend an event hosted by the Olympic Park Legacy Company last Friday that encouraged East London school children to come up with ideas for events to be held at Westfield Stratford City and the future Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

The idea is to encourage the local community and young people to get involved in the dramatic and potentially alien development taking place on their doorstep.

There is a lot of coverage just now about "legacy" and how much thought is going in to ensuring east Londoners enjoy what Randy Newman calls "a piece of the pie" on his latest, fine album Harps and Angels.

Anyway, in the spirit of highlighting all that is being done, I print the OPLC release in full:

A good story in the Standard today from my former editor about what is described as a lack of a "quality vision" at the Olympic Village.

It's well worth a read as it perfectly sums up the dilemma any public sector body faces when it has to fund a major construction project - how do you blend the need to cut costs for the taxpayer upfront with the need to ensure a quality product is created so that a good deal is struck in the end with the eventual purchaser?

As Peter says, we will be able to take a better view of this in the summer when the ODA announces how much the winning party has paid for the Olympic Village.

Well, it has taken some time, but the NAO's fifth report into delivery of the Olympic Games this morning at last raises some difficult questions about progress and more importantly the rigour with which "legacy promises" post Games are being monitored and followed.

The FT writes well on it here pointing out that the major issue raised is the seeming lack of emphasis from the Government Olympic Executive on monitoring and outlining just what exactly the "legacy" for east London should achieve.

There are also for the first time concerns raised both about whether some elements of the athletes village and aquatics centre will be delivered to meet Locog and ODA deadlines. And for the first time the NAO queries just which part of the public sector is really paying for what and whether the already astronomical contingency budget will really cover all of the government's bills. There are also some worrying comments on the government's exposure to Locog and its ability to break even. No wonder the tickets for the Games cost so much!

Anyway I publish below a brief synopis of some of the key points but the document is well worth reading. Increasingly it is the legacy and not the Games itself that is being scrutinised and that is good news:

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 I thought I would post a picture of Acer Snowmec's plans to create Europe's first indoor snow resort on the site of the Hackney Olympics International Press and Broadcast centre.

It looks spectacular but it clearly would mean that much of the current centre would be torn down.

It is hugely ambitious, including black and red runs, a hotel and and a media and office village. No matter the outcome, I think it is the shot in the arm the opportunity has needed. The OPLC will be hoping other equally exciting proposals start to emerge.

Well, you read it here first I have to say.

This morning Acer Snowmec confirmed the story I published here two weeks ago about its intriguing sounding bid to take over the International Broadcast and Media Centre in Hackney and turn it into a major indoor snow resort. I think it is a tremendous idea in many ways, and the company is promising 3,000 jobs will be created.

Hackney council will need to be persuaded though and there will be difficulties building so high in a residential zone.

Separately, I had no idea that the Olympic Park Legacy Company's aspirations for part of the site are upsetting cyclists.

Read both stories below:

It is all getting too much for me I must say. I can't think of any story in living memory generating as much coverage as who is going to be the Olympic Stadium's football tenant.

The Queen Elizabeth II conference centre is currently overwhelmed with journalists waiting for the final verdict from the OPLC.

I could not make it this morning as I was interviewing for a feature on another subject, so two of my colleagues are currently crammed into the building as the decision looms.

I am somewhat relieved to be watching the announcement live on the telly in the office. And the winner is ....

It's going absolutely crazy on the Olympics Stadium front again this morning following Beeb London's revelation last night that the OPLC team will recommend West Ham's bid to move there to its Board on Friday.

The OPLC is playing this down. It has issued a statement saying that effectively no decision has been made and it is presenting both bids to its Board tomorrow morning. A decision will be announced sometime tomorrow.

But there is clearly no way the Beeb would have gone so "balls out" as journalists delightfully term it on this story if they did not have copper bottom sources on this one.

Most media are reporting that it is now virtually a done deal as the Board is hugely unlikely to turn down this recommendation. I think that has to be right ...

Boris has begun consultation on proposals to create a Mayoral Development Corporation to drive regeneration on the back of the 2012 Games in east London.
The full consultation can be read here and I have put together a few of the salient facts below. It clearly would see the OPLC take on overall control for a series of hugely important sites in east London, becoming one of the most important regeneration bodies in the country.

I have published a piece on EGi and Estates Gazette about a really interesting approach the Olympic Park Legacy Company has had for Hackney Wick's media centre.

The Daily Telegraph has subsequently picked up on this.

Basically, the company behind Dubai's Ski Dubai, the world's first indoor ski resort, wants to create a winter sports-anchored resort there.

There are obvious issues with this - not least how high the development would need to be and also Hackney council's continued aspirations for a creative industries hub.

But, it has to be good news that serious players are approaching the OPLC with innovative solutions for the site. I reckon the people of east London actually might like the sound of this too. Anyway, here is the story:

Private investor syndicator Hotbed UK has agreed to forward fund a Travelodge hotel on Statford High Street near the Olympic Park. I have attached an image of what the hotel, which will open by the end of year, should look like.

Hotbed is investing £15.1m - a 6.1% yield - in the development of the 188-bedroom hotel.

The hotel is let on a 25-year, RPI-linked lease to budget hotel chain Travelodge.

Here's a cautionary tale about the lure of the Olympics and real estate combined if ever I read one.

My colleague Christian Metcalfe has just picked up today's Southwark Crown Court judgement on an Olympic property fraud. Read on and take heed ...

The announcement earlier this week from technology giant Cisco that it will invest $500m over the next five years in what it is terming the British Innovation Gateway (BIG) is one of those initiatives that is surely good news for development in the East End, but quite how and why is hard to fathom for now.

Following on from its commitments earlier this year to the government's "tech city" initiative, Cisco is proposing to develop two networked innovation centres, one in Shoreditch and the other at the Olympic Park.