December 2011 Archives

The Olympic Park Legacy Company has today invited bids from potential tenants of the £500m Olympic stadium with many believing it is already a foregone conclusion.

West Ham United are the standout favourites to become the tenant of the stadium after the Olympics which will have its capacity reduced from 80,000 to 60,000.

The process to find a tenant for a maximum term of 99 years only came about after a deal between West Ham and Newham council to buy the stadium collapsed in October.

And the Mayor of London Boris Johnson has since admitted the likely tenant will be The Hammers.

But interestingly, the OPLC's chief executive Andrew Altman has come out today saying the future of the stadium is not dependent on football.

He said he believes the venue can cover its running costs even if the Hammers do not secure a rental deal.

And http://www.insidethegames.biz/olympics/summer-olympics/2012/15267-west-ham-supporters-group-claim-agreement-with-board-over-olympic-stadium-bid.

The article says an agreement has been reached between supporters groups and West Ham vice-chair Karren Brady that a ballot of the club's fans will be held before a bid is submitted to move into the Olympic stadium.

Perhaps it isn't the done deal that everyone seems to think it is...

An Englishman's home is his castle... especially if it has a garden.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company says its plans for the first neighbourhood in the Olympic Park have taken close account of other developments being planned in the area - and with good reason too.

In total more than 12,000 homes are planned for the wider area if the OPLC's 8,000 are counted alongside the Athletes Village's 2,800 and Inter IKEA's 1,200.

It is important to offer something different in each new area for the Olympic Park and East London in general to appeal to a whole range of audiences in its legacy.

The athletes' village is likely to target the private rented sector, while more high density housing aimed at renters will be found in the neighbourhood nearest the main stadium.

By contrast Chobham Manor will be made up of just 800 homes - and 40% of those will have gardens. That is equivalent to more than a quarter of all new homes with gardens typically built in London each year.

The OPLC released a shortlist today of six consortiums to develop Chobham Manor.

They have a real chance to come up with something that is not that common in London - a new home with a garden.

In the words of the OPLC, the area will be a "return to London's traditional family neighbourhoods or mews houses in tree-lined avenues".

The shortlisted bidders are:

• East Thames and Countryside Properties

• Barratt Homes and Le Frak Organisation

• St James Group Limited (Berkeley)

• Swan Housing Association, Urban Splash, Yoo & Mace

• Notting Hill Housing, United Housing and HTA

• Taylor Wimpey and London & Quadrant

The shortlisted bidders will be asked to submit outline proposals by the end of Feb 2012.

The OPLC will then begin a competitive dialogue process with three favoured bidders and aims to appoint a development partner by summer 2012 in order for the first homes to be ready in 2014.

There is an interesting Olympic story emerging about a planning application lodged by Al Jazeera Sport for a temporary television studio on the South Bank.

Website London SE1 reports that Al Jazeera Sport, which holds the Olympic broadcasting rights for the Middle East region, has identified the site close to ITV's London Television Centre for the studio.

If approved by Lambeth Council the studio will be used for live broadcasting during the Olympic Games between 27 July and 12 August 2012.

Al Jazeera viewers will be treated to a background of St Paul's Cathedral and the City of London's skyscrapers everyday when they tune in to the action.

The choice of location for the studio illustrates one of the things the world most wants to see from a London Olympics - the city's famous landmarks themselves.

All of London will truly be on show next year, not just the Olympic Park in Stratford or the locations of the temporary venues in the likes of Horse Guards Parade and Greenwich.

Plans have been unveiled for the Lee Valley VeloPark which will sit in the North of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park after next Summer's Games.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company will build a one mile road cycle circuit and around 8km of mountain bike trails around the existing Velodrome and BMX Track.

The road cycle circuit will cross the River Lea in two places and be framed in the south by wetlands and tow-paths for walkers and cyclists.

The plans will also create a new park for Hackney which can also host small scale events.

The plans have been agreed by British Cycling, Sport England and Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, who will own and operate the Lee Valley VeloPark after the Games, while closely consulting with users including Eastway cyclists.

The Planning Decisions Team at the Olympic Delivery Authority will undertake
a statutory consultation on the application between 14 December and 11 January. The plans can be viewed at http://www.london2012.com/planning/.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company today announced two winners to design and a north and south park at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park - the winning images can be found here.

New York-based James Corner Field Operations were chosen as the south plaza winners for their design concept which features a tree lined promenade connecting to area's food stalls and other attractions including the main stadium.

The 50-acre area will have a South Bank feel and will welcome the majority of visitors to the Park.

For the north competition, London-based firm erect architecture were chosen for their winning design concept to create a community hub building integrated into the parkland and river valley of the north park area.

The winners were chosen from more than 100 entries from across Europe, Asia and North America.

OPLC chief executive Andrew Altman said: "These spaces will be one of the first new public spaces and facilities added to the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It is another example of how legacy plans for the Park are more advanced than any other previous host Olympic city."

Mayor of London Boris Johnson added: "The fantastic legacy we are building at the Olympic Park is already taking shape. These inspiring public spaces will be at the centre of the new communities that are rising in this brand new quarter of the capital. I congratulate these two winners, who now have the chance to put their stamp very firmly on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park for generations to come."

The London Assembly has produced a report called Park Life which recommends the Olympic Park venues should be marketed for family day outs after the 2012 Games.

Park Life focuses on the legacy plans for the Aquatics Centre, Velopark, Handball Arena, and the Eton Manor hockey and Tennis Centre.

Recognising that the venues are likely to need continued public subsidy after the Games, the report stresses the importance of increasing visitor numbers to encourage local regeneration.

It also suggests that the OPLC look at developing new attractions around the venues, such as shops, markets, museums and sports taster sessions, to broaden their appeal.

It recommends that the Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) and the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority (LVRPA), work together to promote the four venues as a single destination open to the public for at least 80% of the time.  

The report calls on the OPLC and LVRPA to:

• Work together with the venue operators to promote the Olympic Park as a single leisure destination.
• Develop joint ticketing arrangements to make it easier for visitors to plan their trip.
• Ensure the venues are open to the public at least 80% of the time and affordable for the local community.
• Consider developing complementary visitor attractions near the venues.

The Committee also heard concerns about transport links to some of the venues, and is calling on the Mayor and TfL to look at improvements to Hackney Wick and Leyton stations as well as pedestrian access from the north of the park.

Meanwhile Tuesday is shaping up to be d-day for Unite Group and its plans to turn a 0.7-acre Westfield-owned site in the Olympic Park into student housing.

Unite has lodged plans for a 950-bed student accommodation tower, rising to 25 storeys at its highest point, having agreed in principle to acquire the site from Westfield.

The site sits immediately to the east of Westfield's £1.5bn Stratford City shopping centre and has outline consent for 300,000 sq ft of offices.

The Olympic Delivery Authority's planning decisions team will decide on the plans on Tuesday.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company has elaborated on its "extensive interest" in the 2012 media centre adding that ten companies have bid to become tenants.

Yesterday the OPLC released a brief statement on the interest in the 940,000 sq ft press and broadcast centre in which it said a shortlist of bidders will be announced in the New Year.

Today the legacy company added that it had ten bids to sift through with bids ranging from "the minimum occupation of one floor in either building to the complete take up of each building on long leases".

On top of that the OPLC has received 12 bids from residential developers for the 800 homes in Chobham Manor - the first of five neighbourhoods to be developed at the Olympic Park after next Summer's Games.

OPLC chief executive Andrew Altman said: "We have received an extremely strong response to the Press and Broadcast Centre and Chobham Manor opportunities.

"Such market interest in the current economic climate is testament to the private sector's confidence in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park."

Shortly the Legacy Company will also open the bidding process for organisations interested in becoming tenants and occupants of the multi-use Olympic Stadium.

The Company will also announce the winners for two separate design competitions for the north and south Park areas.

This is the Olympic Park Legacy Company's response to the interest it has received in taking over the 2012 Olympic media centre after next Summer's games.

Following Friday's noon deadline, the OPLC released the following statement:

A spokesperson said: "We have received extensive interest in the Press Centre and Broadcast Centre from a diverse range of organisations. The bids range from the occupation of one floor in either building to the complete take up of each building on long leases. Those bids will be assessed ahead of producing a shortlist in the New Year.

"We want to develop a thriving new commercial district on the Park that creates thousands of jobs. Our plans for the Olympic Park after the Games are more advanced than any other Olympic host city and we aim to select tenants for these two buildings before the 2012 Games."

Known interest in taking over the site comes from an Inifinity backed consortium called iCity, the Resolution Property-backed UK Fashion Hub, sports retailer Decathlon, Spanish theme park operator Micropolix, and Acer Snowmec, which has proposed an indoor ski resort.

CBRE is advising the OPLC.