March 2011 Archives

So Tottenham Hotspur have issued the OPLC with a legal letter calling for a judicial review into the decision to give West Ham the Olympic stadium.

The letter is not exactly unexpected as Spurs have made no secret of their dissatisfaction at the decision.

But what is the likelihood of a fully blown court case, and all the pain that will come with it?

It is important to note that this is just a notice of intent.

And according to the Ministry of Justice, the purpose of a pre-action letter such as the one Spurs has written is actually to "identify the issues in dispute and establish whether litigation can be avoided".

As EGi has reported today, the Olympic Park Legacy Company has just under a month to respond in writing.

The OPLC is clearly very confident in the legality and transparency of the process it took in choosing West Ham, and says it is confident its approach will be entirely vindicated by the courts.

Ominously though, they have made no mention of hoping to avoid legal action...

This is my last blog posting for Estates Gazette on the Olympics.

It's my last day working for EG before I leave to become the editor of a new online property service. The good news for anyone who enjoys visiting this blog is that essentially means there will shortly be another resource for news on development issues to do with the 2012 Olympics.

My colleague at Estates Gazette Nick Whitten will be taking on the Olympics beat and with that taking over writing this blog - it will be Nick Whitten's Olympics blog or some such thing. And I will re-emerge shortly on a new platform - there is no way I am going to stop writing about the Olympics with the Games so close at hand and so many fascinating stories unfolding.

I would like to say thanks to everyone who has read or contributed to this blog in any way. From a personal point of view, writing the blog has proved liberating ...

Well, well, there is an absolute humdinger of an Olympics story nailed in today's Financial Times. Fair play to Dan and Roger over there.

Read the story here. It's the kind of story that throws all pre-conceptions about what will happen at the Olympic Park out of the metaphorical east London window.

I have been following a rumour doing the rounds for a couple of weeks that a "serious" organisation wanted to take over the media centre, but I was nowhere near this name or the size of the aspiration I have to say.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company has put the boot into Leyton Orient FC's plans to move to a 15,000-seat stadium at Eton Manor on the Olympic Park.

Speaking at a London Assembly scrutiny meeting this morning at City Hall, Baroness Ford, chairman of the Olympic Park Legacy Company, was asked about Orient chairman Barry Hearn's call for the club to move to the Olympics Hockey Stadium post Games as a compromise after the club had threatened legal action over local rival West Ham's selection as tenant at the Olympic Stadium.

Ford said the chairman of Leyton Orient was "not clear about legacy use of Eaton Manor".

She said the OPLC was not the owner of the site or venue as Eton Manor falls under the remit of the Lea Valley Park Authority. But she said the masterplan clearly contained an obligation to deliver much needed recreational land and employment space on the site.

"Why would you put two football stadia in the Olympic Park in place of much-needed recreational and employment space?"

There were many interested points discussed. I have plucked out a few below:

Listening in to a typically wacky but sporadically enlightening London Assembly meeting scutinising the Olympic Park Legacy Company's two principals - Baroness Ford and Andrew Altman - just now.

First things of interest that have emerged - Leyton Orient have no chance of moving into the Hockey Stadium on Eton Manor post Games, and a Snowdome or Bollywood in Europe may still end up the anchor tenant at the media centre. Oh and Baroness Ford's ideal job would be as a presenter on Gardener's World.

Will update in full when it all ends.

It's all getting a bit unpleasant down at the Olympics site following Newham council's decision to award the UK's first large casino licence to Aspers and Westfield at Stratford City.

Apollo Genting, bidding for a site at Silvertown Quays on the Royal Docks with Development Securities, has said it is "surprised and bemused" by the decision and is understood to be considering an appeal.

City & Eastern, the development company behind the Great Eastern Quays Casino, bidding for a site on Royal Dock at Great Eastern Quays, said the decision to award the licence to Aspers at the Westfield Shopping Centre is a "wasted opportunity to regenerate run down areas of the borough" and is planning to seek a judicial review.

I have just spoken to a delighted Damian Aspinall from Aspers and John Burton from Westfield after they were selected by Newham council to build the UK's first "large" casino at Stratford City.
Burton said the parties would now be working hard to get the casino open in time for the September opening of the Stratford City shopping centre, next to the Olympic Park.

Aspinall said they would be looking to change the way gaming was viewed in the UK by creating an environment where gambling is just a part of the picture.

"This is a different market environment where people enjoy the bars and restaurant as much as the gaming."
What was particularly interesting was Burton's suggestion that Aspers' success in securing the licence meant that Westfield needed to think again about the size of the audience it was looking to attract to the centre. He said it was now a truly regional centre.
"If anybody ever doubted we could deliver all of the leisure and entertainment and retail together people wanted here they will have to think again," Burton said.
Anyway the parties are understandably pleased about a major new addition to the east end's leisure experience.
Here are some facts from Westfield about what the 65,000 sq ft casino overlooking the Olympic Park will offer:
Aspers Westfield Stratford City will include:

Here is a great exclusive image of how the Olympic Park is going to look - on a sunny day - from the meeting rooms at Lend Lease and London & Continental Railways' 4m sq ft International Business Quarter at Stratford City.

Look out for an expected decision later today on whether Westfield and Aspinalls are going to be selected by Newham council to bring a "large" casino to the site as well.

Boris has come out with all guns blazing in support of the investment opportunities around east London and the Olympics zone in particular at the beginning of the property world's key annual event.

In his keynote speech at the MIPIM festival in Cannes, Johnson made it clear that he would like his period as mayor to be judged as much as anything on the progress that is made in rejuvenating east London, particularly via the Olympics legacy development.

The sun may well be shining and the food may be extremely good out in Cannes, but I am going to refuse to be cynical on this occasion. It is good thing that Boris is out their beating the drum for east London and the Olympics projects - the region has to fight all the way just now to stay at the forefront of investor and political thinking.

Here is a somewhat adumbrated version of Boris' speech:

Well, the big announcement has been made by the OPLC and Boris Johnson at MIPIM and it does not disappoint.

Clearly if you read Estates Gazette or EGi News you would have already know this was what the announcement was going to be as I did a bit of detective work last week and worked out what it was going to be. You read it here first, as they say.

Anyway, following on from the substantial interest in the Olympic Village, the OPLC is likely to find its door being beaten down by prospective bidders for today's opportunity.

Here is the full story.

The property world's big annual meet in Cannes begins tomorrow and you can expect some significant announcements about developments at the Olympics site.
Very quickly, don't expect an announcement on the preferred site for Newham's large casino. The council's licensing committee was unable to reach agreement on Friday and an announcement is not expected for several days at the least.
Back to MIPIM and the two obvious announcements to look out for are today's unveiling of the "International Quarter", a 4m sq ft office campus next to Stratford International (of which more below).
Tomorrow, the Olympic Park Legacy Company and Boris Johnson will unveil the "first development and investment opportunities" at the Olympic Park. That will be worth tuning in for certainly.
With regards to Lend Lease and London & Continental Railways' massive office plans (pictured above) I have written a bit about the details below.

Leyton Orient may be suing, Tottenham may be infuriated, but West Ham are going to be the anchor of the Olympic Stadium, the government has confirmed.

Bob Neill has laid a written ministerial statement before the House rubberstamping the Olympic Park Legacy Company's backing of the Hammers' bid.

It has always felt like the right solution. Anyway here is Neill's statement:

Keep an eye out for a significant Olympics decision this Friday.

Newham council's licensing committee will decide which site in the Borough will house a "large" casino. The favourite is probably the bid from a tie-up between Aspers Group and Westfield to build the casino at Stratford City in a complex overlooking the Olympics Stadium.

Another strong contender is a joint bid from leisure groups Genting Malaysia and Apollo Resorts & Leisure and the London Development Agency to build the casino as the first phase of Silvertown Quays in Royal Docks.

As I have written before the decision is between a site that is ready to go but has already had its fair share of occupier and public sector backing, or one where development never seems to quite happen but which a large casino might just unlock at last.

It's a difficult choice.

Westfield has forwarded me a great picture of how the Olympics Park and Stratford City site are likely to look at "dusk" in the future so here it is.

The occasion is Westfield's completion of the first 130,000 sq ft office complex at Stratford City where it will eventually build 1.1m sq ft of offices.

Anyway, read on for the full details, otherwise just enjoy the view ...