The collapse of the deal to hand over the 2012 Olympic stadium to West Ham has led to accusations that the stadium will be a white elephant, Building reported.
The Olympic Park Legacy Company ended negotiations following fears that the legal dispute with rival football clubs Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient would throw into jeopardy wider legacy plans for the Olympic Park.
Tottenham Hotspur and Leyton Orient had mounted a judicial review into whether Newham council’s involvement in West Ham’s bid breached state aid rules.
Newham, which planned to lend West Ham £40m for stadium conversion costs, withdrew from the deal saying it could not guarantee the stadium would reopen as expected in 2014 due to legal uncertainties.
Sports Minister Hugh Robertson told the BBC that the stadium would remain in public ownership but would be leased out. West Ham is set to bid to become the tenant. Interested bidders will have to submit proposals by January.
“The process to sell the stadium has become bogged down. We are acting today to end the legal paralysis that has put that legacy at risk.
“Ending the current sale process and looking for a leasehold solution will remove the current uncertainty and allows us to help secure the future use of the stadium with more confidence,” Robertson said.
The tender will also stipulate that the running track must be retained but Building reported that the government is looking at all other options, including limiting use of the stadium to athletics and events such as concerts.
Andrew Boff, a Conservative member of the London Assembly, said: “This catastrophe is down to Sebastian Coe’s insistence that the stadium should retain an athletics track after the Games.”
But Construction News reported that Leyton Orient chairman Barry Hearn was claiming victory. “For this whole case Leyton Orient has been beating up West Ham and Newham and landing punches. They were taking a beating, we were well ahead on points and about to knock them out when OPLC and the Government threw in the towel,” he said.
