Press Release Summary: The year 2012 may seem some way off yet, but not in one corner of London. Work is proceeding at a feverish pace on one of the largest building projects in British history, the construction of facilities for the 2012 Olympic Games.
Press Release Body: The year 2012 may seem some way off yet, but not in one corner of London. Work is proceeding at a feverish pace on one of the largest building projects in British history, the construction of facilities for the 2012 Olympic Games.
But while the sporting venues and athletes\' village must be prepared in time for the vast influx of competitors and spectators arriving for a fortnight in a summer five years hence, it is the longer-lasting impact of the games that has captured the imagination of many people.
Ever since Barcelona in 1992, when the city\'s waterfront was transformed by the games, the notion of using the event as a catalyst of urban renewal has grown in prominence. In part this may have been to counteract the impression that the games were simply a short-term party followed by a long-term millstone round the neck of local taxpayers, as Montreal found after 1976. But it also carried the idea that through improving the general environment of an area using sport as a catalyst, new economic development could follow.
Such a theme was a major part of the unsuccessful Manchester bid for the 2000 games and the city\'s subsequent hosting of the Commonwealth Games, while the concept of legacy is now part of every bidding city\'s Olympic blueprint. Thus London, too, has high hopes that a run-down part of east London could be transformed, a move which, if successful, may have major repercussions for the property market in the area.
This legacy, as explained on the London 2012 website, involves making the Olympic Park after the games a place with fine sports facilities for locals to use, a green oasis for flora and fauna, especially by the banks of the River Lea, plus the site of 9,000 new homes.
With new building and an attractive new environment, the result may indeed be to bring about a huge improvement to the Stratford area. According to Natalie Thompson, sales manager for property agents Ludlow Thompson, the attraction of new build and \"easy living\" will be great for a particular market: \"It attracts the professional with long hours, who doesn\'t have the time or inclination to do up a property\", she said.
If that is the nature of the market, Ms Thompson continues, the result will be a \"gentrification\" of the area. But, she argues, while this will bring in attractive elements, such as more up-market shops and restaurants, it will not necessarily drive out local families, for there is a \"different attitude\" from younger people moving in now than perhaps was once the case.
Either way, with the mayor of London\'s spending plan earmarking £439 million this year for Olympic land and legacy purposes, the effort to redevelop east London will undoubtedly be huge. Thus buy-to-let investors looking at the area may well have some outstanding opportunities to go for gold.
2022
