2.9 Market testing finished in July 2001 when English Partnerships short listed three bidders. These bidders were the only ones that English Partnerships and their advisory team had considered were likely to produce credible proposals for the Dome. They were Meridian Delta Limited, Tops Estates and the Wellcome Trust (See Figure 10).
2.10 At the time of short listing it was not clear how much land each of the three bidders would require. Each had much more work to do on their detailed proposals. English Partnerships' stance in the period up to the receipt of formal bids in November 2001 remained neither to rule out, nor to invite, bids for land in excess of the 68 acres initially offered. In the event, two of the three ultimate bidders, including the eventual winning Consortium (See Figure 11), submitted proposals for more land than English Partnerships initially indicated as available. English Partnerships responded to these proposals accordingly; but they did not actively promote the inclusion of more land than the bidders considered necessary for the delivery of the individual proposals, since their objective was to focus bidders' attention on providing a viable use for the Dome and its immediate surroundings. Meridian Delta Limited themselves appear not to have reached a final conclusion as to their wider land needs until nearly the end of November 2001, after their proposals were submitted. The amount of development land included in the deal (See Figure 3) increased from 68 acres to some 170 acres.
10 | Short listed bidders | |||||
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Only three bidders made formal submissions during the second sale process. | ||||||
Bidder | Nature of initial outline proposals | |||||
Meridian Delta Limited
| Bid to use the Dome and develop large areas of the Greenwich Peninsula: ■ a self-contained multi-purpose arena built within the Dome to accommodate up to 20,000 seats for major sporting events or concerts; ■ an urban entertainment complex (for broadcasting facilities, sports facilities, catering and leisure etc), in the remaining area of the Dome and immediately adjacent land; and ■ a joint venture with English Partnerships, and other landowners, to drawdown and develop over time some 190 acres of land, owned largely by English Partnerships, Quintain and London Underground Limited, for mixed use (primarily residential and offices).
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Tops Estates, bidding as the Metropolitan Regeneration Trust plc
| Bid to use the Dome and land necessary to support its use: ■ public participation sports areas (tennis training and playing, ski slope, scuba diving and other sports) covering 46 per cent of total floor area; ■ 'lifestyle' retail area (with a sports theme) covering 27 per cent of total gross floor area. Free public entry to the Dome; ■ entertainment area (five-screen multiplex cinema, bowling, internet centre, bars, restaurants) covering 19 per cent of total gross floor area; ■ a monorail transit system to link with the national rail network; and ■ all the above would, in Tops' view, help to 'kickstart' development of the wider Peninsula by English Partnerships.
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The Wellcome Trust (the Trust)
| Initially the proposal included a 'public engagement' facility based on science research within the Dome; however it was later restricted to developing land on the Peninsula excluding the Dome: ■ a 'core research facility' to provide accommodation for international centre of excellence in Bio-technology covering some 4 million square feet; ■ land and property joint venture company to develop land for mixed use (commercial, residential and a school); and ■ in its eventual bid the Trust indicated readiness to work with government to find an acceptable use for the Dome itself.
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Source: National Audit Office | ||||||