Commonwealth Games village timetable slips

The original timetable to build Glasgow’s Commonwealth Games athletes village has stalled over funding fears.

A shortlist of four consortia to build the £245m village was announced by Glasgow City Council last week but already the deadline to announce the winner has slipped.

In August the council’s director of development and regeneration Steve Inch said a developer would be known by early 2009 and contracts exchanged by spring.

But council documents show the project is already months behind, with the appointment of the preferred developer now expected in July 2009.

Councillor Archie Graham said the timescale had changed because the council was now using the more time consuming competitive dialogue process with bidders.

He said it was still within its critical timescales and that efforts were being made to “carry” up front development costs by paying some bills out of its social rented housing budgets.

Progress Property Developments (PPD) managing director Charles Price, whose PPD Consortium is shortlisted for the project, was bullish about the funding challenges the project faced.

“All consortium members recognise this as a very major challenge,” he said.

“We have a particular formula that will put us ahead of the game and it is not based on gambling on an upturn in the housing market.

“It would be great to be able to see into the future, but we will be basing our bid on today’s environment.”

The Glasgow athletes village will include up to 1,500 homes in the east end of the city that will house 8,000 athletes during the Commonwealth Games and be transformed into private and affordable housing.

The council said it had limited costs to developers by buying the site itself and not expecting a return on it until completion

Under a guarantee in the Games bid submission, the council can also ask the Scottish government, under certain circumstances, to fund the village’s build costs.