London's budget for the village was based on property prices continuing to rise at around 6 per cent per year. (LOCOG)Olympic Village Financial Rescue
The British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling will chair a crucial funding meeting in London on Thursday, Oct. 9, which could result in the 2012 Olympic Village effectively being nationalized.
The international credit crisis in the banking sector has hit London’s funding plans for the development of the 2012 Olympic Village, main press center and international broadcast center, with partner Lend Lease - builders of the Sydney Olympic facilities - unable to raise the $1 billion required from banks.
Concerns about the village development now surrounds the profit-sharing arrangements on the 3,200 apartments - to be used by athletes and officials during the Olympics and Paralympics, but which will be put up for sale after the Games.
Despite a housing shortage in the area around Stratford, east London, and house prices in the U.K. having fallen by 10 percent in 2008, some realtors in the capital fear that such a large number of new properties coming on to the market at once in 2013 will depress prices.
Thursday’s meeting will discuss alternative funding options for the development of London’s Olympic Park, with the U.K. Treasury reluctant to call on the $5 billion Olympic contingency fund.
Coe Advising all 2016 Bidders, says LOCOG
London 2012 was quick last week to distance Sebastian Coe, chairman of LOCOG, from reports linking him as a special adviser to the Chicago 2016 bid.
Pat Ryan, head of Chicago's bid, said that Coe and other senior officials from London 2012 have provided advice as the city attempts to beat Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo to follow London as the host city for the Games.
"I have met on several occasions with Sebastian Coe and he has been very open and helpful, sharing experience, giving us insights about things to do and not to do,” Ryan said.
Chicago had considered reusing 55,000 seats from London’s Olympic Stadium once it is converted in 2013 to use as a 25,000 capacity track and field facility.
But a LOCOG spokesman said, “Seb and other senior figures from London have happily provided help and advice to all the 2016 bidding cities.”
ODA Looks at Alternative Venues
The Olympic Delivery Authority is in talks with a Swiss sports arena manufacturer KMPG is reviewing the plan that puts shooting at the Royal Artillery Barracks in southeast London. (LOCOG)to deliver a flatpack basketball venue for the 2012 London Games in a bid to keep costs down.
Basketball is one of several sports, including shooting and equestrian, which are under a venue review by accountants KPMG, under orders from Olympics Minister Tessa Jowell.
London’s original basketball proposal suggested a temporary venue within the Olympic Park, with final matches being played across the River Thames at the O2 Arena in Greenwich.
Games chiefs reckon they can cut the $120 million budget for the basketball arena by importing a basic steel structure for around $24 million.
With a capacity of 12,000, the venue may also host handball matches and serve as a holding venue for athletes during the opening ceremony. After the Games, it will be dismantled and sold off with the land made available to developers.
Olympic Goods on High Street?
London 2012 shops are expected to open in major stores such as Harrod’s, Selfridges and Marks & Spencer in an effort to sell $2 billion worth of Olympic-branded products.
The sale of merchandising rights is a key source of revenue for LOCOG, which aims to raise $130 million from such deals.
LOCOG is considering opening standalone shops or franchising operations within existing stores.
Tier One London 2012 partner adidas has acquired the rights to produce co-branded clothing. The Royal Mint has purchased the rights to produce London 2012 coins and minted a new coin to mark the official handover from Beijing to London last month. Chinese company Honav has won the contract to supply souvenir badges and pins.
Licenses remain available for postage stamps, video games, computer software and toys, including the highly lucrative Olympic mascot - which will be the subject of a public design competition.
Fanfare for Athletes
Some 500 British Olympic and Paralympic athletes will parade through the streets of London on The Ashes victory parade filled Trafalgar Square -- something London 2012 would like to see repeated for Olympians and Paralympians. (Getty Images)Oct. 16.
Beijing 2008 was Britain’s most successful Games in modern times, and London 2012 organizers hope that the parade, similar in scale to those enjoyed by England’s 2003 Rugby World Cup-winning squad and the Ashes-winning cricket team in 2005, will add further impetus to public anticipation for the Games.
The parade follows a reception given for 250 athletes and staff last Friday by Prime Minister Gordon Brown at 10 Downing Street.
Brown said it was a great privilege to welcome the country’s most successful Olympic team since 1908.
“While you were all in the bubble of Beijing, millions of people here were not only watching you, but were encouraged to play sport and try to take part in the next Olympics.
“There has been nothing in recent years that has given me and so many other people so much pride as what you all have done.”
London Briefs…
Britain’s Olympic middleweight boxing champion, James DeGale, is close to turning professional after receiving an offer of almost $4 million over two years. The loss of DeGale ahead of the 2012 London Games would be a huge blow to amateur boxing. DeGale, 22, is among many in the British squad who are fiercely loyal to head coach Terry Edwards, who helped steer them to success in Beijing.
Harvard and Yale universities could be approached to become partners in a business school with its campus based in London’s Olympic Park. London Mayor Boris Johnson is already in talks with some of China's leading universities to create a new college focusing on postgraduate business courses and research. American Ivy League institutions are also on the list of possible partners to work alongside London’s Imperial College and London School of Economics to provide a lasting legacy use for the Olympic Park.
Sue Campbell, the chairman since 2003 of the Lottery-funding agency U.K. Sport, has been honored by the government and made a baroness. She will take a seat in the upper house of British parliament, the House of Lords.
Written by Steven Downes
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