UK Fashion Hub, Oxylane Group and iCITY all share the Legacy Company’s vision to create a thriving commercial district on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park that will generate several thousand job and training opportunities in the process.

They will now enter into detailed negotiations with the Legacy Company based on their initial bids. All three organisations are vying to take up long leases for the whole of both buildings which in total offer around 1 million sq ft of commercial space.

The Legacy Company aims to appoint the tenant this summer with the buildings available for fit-out from spring 2013.

The shortlisted bids are:

iCITY

An ‘Innovation City’ anchored by Infinity with the Broadcast Centre accommodating a cloud computing centre, research labs, post production, graphic designers and digital education. The Press Centre would become an innovation and research centre with links to higher education that would showcase British technology.

Oxylane Group

A sports-orientated mixed-use offer in partnership with Loughborough University. The Broadcast Centre would become ‘Oxylane Village’ offering leisure, events space, research and education and retail including a major Decathlon store. The Press Centre would be used as office space and a technology centre.

UK Fashion Hub

A dedicated centre that will unite the fashion and textile manufacturing sectors, creating a world-class destination for wholesalers, buyers and the creative industries. Headed by Resolution and anchored by Brandboxx and Workspace Group, the bid involves the Broadcast Centre becoming a fashion centre with offices, an incubator, manufacturing and for creative uses. The Press Centre would become a fashion college, a fashion e-tailing centre and a media centre.

Andrew Altman, Chief Executive of the Olympic Park Legacy Company, said:

“The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is already generating a huge amount of commercial interest and the calibre of our shortlist is testament to that. We have three dynamic bids focused on the creation of thousands of jobs and training opportunities, along with links to Tech City.

“We will now go through their proposals in fine detail to make sure that they can deliver a successful ongoing legacy that will stimulate future commercial interest. Today’s milestone is yet another example of how London is further ahead in legacy planning than any previous host Olympic city.”

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said:

“Having already secured operators for six out of eight of the Olympic Park venues we are close to securing the huge 2012 legacy prize of long-term jobs and growth. I am delighted that we are now talking to potential tenants at this point of London’s 2012 story. It means we can now look forward to the Summer Games with confidence that our Park is on course to become that thriving, vibrant and prosperous new district we have all been striving for.”

Sport and Olympics Minister, Hugh Robertson, said:

“I am delighted with the interest shown in the Press and Broadcast Centres. It will ensure that we have an excellent commercial legacy for the Park post-2012 that will create jobs and boost the economy. With operators for six of the eight permanent Olympic venues already secured, and good progress being made on the final two, we are on schedule to have finalised our legacy plans before the Games have begun – a first for any Olympic host city.”

Local Government Minister, Bob Neill, said:

“I am delighted to see the Legacy Company’s progress in finding exciting and robust long-term tenants for the Press and Broadcast Centres in the Olympic Park. All three shortlisted tenants would bring creative and interesting training and job opportunities for local people, helping further to stimulate the East London economy and encourage local growth in a wide variety of sectors.

“This announcement highlights the ongoing success of the Olympic legacy programme which will soon be led by the Mayor. This is localism in action – local jobs and opportunities to be decided and shaped by local people.”

Mayor of Hackney, Jules Pipe said:

“I am very pleased that the level of interest shown in the tenancy of the Press and Broadcast Centres has enabled the Legacy Company to draw up a strong shortlist.

“Hackney Council looks forward to working closely with the Legacy Company and the three shortlisted bidders to establish which bid best aligns with the Council’s long-held aspirations for this location. The tenancy of these buildings represents the greatest chance for a sustainable employment legacy from the Games and we want to make sure that the successful bidder fulfils that promise by providing a full range of high quality jobs, from entry level to highly-skilled specialist roles.”

     
The Broadcast Centre will offer 95,000 sq ft of office space over five floors and 575,000 sq ft of commercial space over two floors. It has the flexibility to be reconfigured into four separate buildings.

The five storey Press Centre will provide around 317,000 sq ft of prime office space with the potential for retail uses on the ground floor.

They are a fundamental part of the Legacy Company’s vision to create a mixed-use commercial district that will generate employment at a range of levels covering a broad spectrum of skills and opportunities for local businesses.

Five major universities are within five miles of the Park providing access to more than 83,000 students and the skilled workforce that they offer.

The area builds on the Government’s promise of an East London Tech City, extending a belt of innovative businesses from Shoreditch to Old Street, through the City and into the future Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

In October 2011, the Legacy Company invited interested parties to bid to take up at least one floor in either of the buildings. Ten bids were returned by the 2nd December deadline, with eight of them proposing to take-up both buildings on long leases. They covered a range of different uses including technology, digital, creative, media, sport, office, leisure and retail uses.