The organisation in charge of the construction of the Olympic venues has been brought in to oversee the building of the athletes’ village, which was originally run by developer Lend Lease
Lend Lease is still project managing the £900m, 2,800-home development, and its Bovis Lend Lease arm is the construction manager, but a team from CLM has been drafted in to oversee the work.
The news comes as the wrangling over how the village is paid for continues; a development agreement between the Olympic Delivery Authority and Lend Lease was not signed off as expected last week.
CLM is the ODA’s delivery partner for all the venues for the Games, but did not originally have a role on the village, which was to have been privately funded by Lend Lease before the credit crunch.
CLM’s main role on venues is to manage the cost of construction, and sources suggest the move was motivated by a desire to trim costs. Lend Lease recently announced it was tendering the construction of several blocks in the village to firms other than Bovis Lend Lease.
A team from clm have been helping to oversee delivery and ensure best value
ODA spokesperson
An ODA spokesperson confirmed that CLM was helping oversee the village development, but added that this was “standard practice”. He said: “A team from CLM has been working with Lend Lease to help oversee delivery and ensure best value.”
Meanwhile, a deadline for signing the development agreement and affordable housing deal passed last week without agreement. The Triathlon consortium, made up of developer First Base and housing associations East Thames Group and Southern Housing Group, are negotiating to buy about half of the units after the Games.
An ODA spokesman said: “The discussions are continuing and are making progress.”
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