West Ham ready to launch formal bid for Olympic Stadium

By Duncan Mackay
British Sports Internet Writer of the Year

August 18 – West Ham United can today officially launch its formal bid to take over the Olympic Stadium after London 2012.

The Olympic Park Legacy Company (OPLC) have today opened formal bidding for a long-term lease following initial expressions of interest (EOI), held between March and June this year, which attracted well over 100 participants.

A group of interested parties have emerged from the soft market testing which, the OPLC, claim has proved invaluable in shaping the stadium offer for the bid stage.

Bidding is not exclusive to those who took part in the EOI process but West Ham’s joint proposal with Newham Borough Council and AEG’s offer to add the Olympic Stadium to its portfolio of entertainment venues, including the O2 Arena, have emerged as the front-runners.

The OPLC seeking an anchor tenant that can provide value for money in serving both the needs of elite sport and the local community, they said today when launching the formal tender process.

The good news for athletics is that all of the candidates have put retaining the running track at the heart of their plans.

All the participants backed a multi-use Stadium containing athletics and possible commercial, health or educational uses in the Stadium’s undercroft.

Other details to emerge from the EOI process was that the market favoured the Stadium being reduced from its Games-time capacity of 80,000 seats, to options ranging between 25,000 seats and 60,000 seats depending on their ideas, and thirdly, demand was for a long lease.

Plans for the Olympic Stadium form part of the OPLC’s wider plans for the Olympic Park which will include new housing, schools, health centres and offices, along with the running of venues such as the Aquatics Centre, Orbit, multi-sse arena and the Press and Broadcast Centres.

Margaret Ford, the chair of OPLC, said: “The Stadium is at the heart of the Olympic Park and securing the most appropriate solution is crucial to our long-term aspirations for the area.

“We have generated a great deal of interest by working with the market to understand how they would use this iconic venue.

“I am delighted that organisations with a serious interest all want a mixed usage – this is in-line with our promise to meet the bid commitments, and our vision for the Stadium to be a focal point for sport and community use.

“We aim to have selected an anchor tenant by the end of the financial year.”

Interested parties have until 12 noon, on Thursday September 30, to make a formal bid by completing a Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ).

A Memorandum of Information (MOI) is available with the PQQ to help formulate bids.

This provides background on the Olympic Stadium and outlines the Legacy Company’s ambition for the Olympic Park and the Stadium.

The PQQ asks questions based on five objectives agreed by the OPLC and its founder members, the Government and the Mayor’s Office.

They focus on offering a viable long term solution that provides value for money, securing a suitable operator and reopening the Stadium as soon as possible after the Games.

The Stadium should remain a distinctive physical symbol supporting the area’s regeneration, and offer a vibrant mixture of community and sporting uses.

The OPLC will select preferred bidders from the PQQ in the autumn, and begin formal negotiations with the aim of signing a lease agreement by March 31, 2011.

More details are available by clicking here.

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