A deal for West Ham United to be anchor tenants at the Olympic Stadium, E20, has been finalised after the government agreed to pay an extra £25m towards converting the venue.
The Premier League club now look set to move in from August 2016, paying around £2m per year in rent. To guarantee the 99-year lease, West Ham has agreed to pay a proportion of any future sale of the club back to the London Legacy Development Corporation.
The refurbishment will cost between £150m and £190m.
The deal was agreed after West Ham said it would increase their funding towards the project to £15m from £5m. The government will contribute circa £60m and Newham Council around £40m, with additional funds coming from the LLDC.
The proposed plans for the stadium comprise extending the roof, reducing the seating capacity from 80,000 to 60,000, and the installation of retractable seating that will allow the stadium to operate as both an athletics and football arena.
West Ham was named as preferred bidders by the LLDC in December. Joanna.Bourke@estatesgazette.com
