Olympic Games - West Ham sign deal to take over Olympic stadium
West Ham will become the new tenants of the London 2012 Olympic Stadium after being granted a 99-year lease on the venue, according to a BBC report.
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| The London 2012 Olympic Stadium, officially the new home of West Ham FC |
The Hammers signed a tenancy agreement to move into the stadium after a deal was finalised late on Thursday night, with an official announcement expected later on Friday.
Work on converting the stadium for football use will begin in autumn and should be finished within two years. The venue is likely to be one of the key venues at the 2015 Rugby World Cup, with West Ham then kicking off at their new ground for the first time in August 2016.
The final agreement reportedly came only when the government pledged a further £25 million of public money towards the costs of converting the venue for football use.
That means the taxpayer will be contributing £60m of the estimated £170m cost of re-purposing the stadium, which will include extending the roof and adding retractable seating to cover the running track.
Premier League side West Ham will cover just £15m of those costs, with the remainder being either provided or borrowed from the London Mayoral budget, Newham Council and London Legacy Development Corporation.
In addition, the Championship side will pay £2m a year rent on the stadium. That equates to just under half the annual running costs, though the LLDC will take a share of hospitality and catering profits.
West Ham were named preferred bidders three months ago, but continuing legal challenges from rivals - notably Barry Hearn's on behalf of Leyton Orient - and wrangling over who will foot the bill for the necessary work had put the deal in jeopardy.
Leyton Orient are said to still be pursuing a judicial review of the bidding process, but the LLDC are reportedly "confident" that the process will not be delayed.
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