West Ham in race for Olympic Stadium
Reuters - Tuesday 17 July 2012, 15:03
A bid linked to motor-racing
group Formula One and football club West Ham United are among
four parties competing to take over the Olympic stadium after
the London Games, the London Legacy Development Corporation said
on Tuesday.
The LLDC said it was assessing proposals from the two, as
well as from Leyton Orient Football Club and the UCFB College of
Football Business, without saying when a decision was due.
Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone told Reuters he was
not directly involved in the motor-racing bid which LLDC said
was made in association with a company called Intelligent
Transport Services.
"If they were to get permission to do it [use the stadium
for a Grand Prix], then we would be more than happy to do
something with them. But we have nothing to do with putting in a
bid," he said.
The process to select a main tenant for the stadium in east
London was extended eight weeks in May after the LLDC said
parties had been discouraged from bidding because of unresolved
issues including stadium-naming rights.
"London is further ahead in planning legacy than any
previous host Olympic city," LLDC chairman Daniel Moylan said.
There has been speculation that Formula One planned to use
the stadium and neighbouring land to create a motor-racing
circuit.
Some local politicians fear the 80,000-seat venue could
become a white elephant. A previous plan to sell the stadium to
West Ham fell apart in October with the government citing "legal
paralysis" after Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, which
had a bid turned down, challenged the decision.
The LLDC also said a bid to turn the 1 million square foot
Olympic media centre into offices, research labs and a data
centre was now the preferred choice.
A plan by the so-called iCity consortium is the favourite
after the only other bidder withdrew last week.
The consortium is backed by data centre manager Infinity and
property company Delancey. It plans to create more than 4,000
jobs.
The LLDC said it will name the residential developer
selected to build the first neighbourhood of housing on the park
next week.