Legacy Company Shortlists Developers to Build First Family Neighbourhood

The Olympic Park Legacy Company today announced a shortlist of six developers for the opportunity to build the first neighbourhood on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Chobham Manor will be a return to London’s traditional family neighbourhoods of terraced and mews houses, set within tree-lined avenues. Sitting between the Athletes’ Village and the VeloPark, the neighbourhood will help to address the local need for larger homes with 70% of the 800 homes offering much needed family housing.

In addition, 40% of the new homes will be houses with gardens – almost a quarter of the total number of new houses registered in London last year.

The shortlisted bidders are:

• East Thames and Countryside Properties

• Barratt Homes and Le Frak Organisation

• St James Group Limited (Berkeley)

• Swan Housing Association, Urban Splash, Yoo & Mace

• Notting Hill Housing, United Housing and HTA

• Taylor Wimpey and London & Quadrant

The shortlisted bidders will be asked to submit Outline Proposals by the end of Feb 2012. The Legacy Company will then begin a competitive dialogue process with three favoured bidders and aims to appoint a development partner by summer 2012 in order for the first homes to be ready in 2014.

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

"We have received an extremely strong response from developers interested in building Chobham Manor. This reflects the strong market appetite to develop family housing in the first neighbourhood to be created in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

"Plans for the Olympic Park after the Games are already more advanced than any other Olympic host city and we aim to continue this by appointing a preferred bidder before the 2012 Games."

The Legacy Company’s housing strategy has taken into consideration the number of high-density developments already being planned for the surrounding area. It also responds to the views of local people who have put the need for family housing, quality open spaces and supporting amenities among their top priorities.

Chobham Manor will offer a mix of terraced housing, mews housing and duplex apartments within tree lined avenues, intimate streets and open squares. It will sit adjacent to the Athletes Village which will be converted into 2,800 flats after the 2012 Games.

Around 30 percent of the homes will be affordable housing with local people targeted through boroughs and housing associations. A Community Land Trust could be part of the affordable housing offer giving a non-profit community-based organisation the opportunity to provide permanently affordable homes for long-term community benefit.

Families in the new homes and surrounding communities will be supported by a walk-in health centre, two nurseries, two multipurpose community spaces, neighbourhood shops and the nearby Chobham Academy school.

The Legacy Company aims to appoint a developer partner for Chobham Manor by the summer of 2012 in order for the first homes to be ready in 2014. The neighbourhood is expected to be completed over five years.

In total, the Legacy Company is aiming for up to 35% affordable housing across the Park – in line with the Mayor’s London Plan.

The new neighbourhood will be within walking distance of Stratford International Station and Stratford Regional Station which offer nine rail lines.

It is one of five neighbourhoods to be developed on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, with up to 8,000 new homes being built over the next 20 years, in addition to the Athletes Village.

For more information, visit: www.legacycompany.co.uk

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