{"s" : "av","k" : "a00,a50,b00,b60,c10,g00,h00,l10,p20,t10,v00","o" : "","j" : ""} On Friday December 17, 2010, 3:37 pm EST LONDON (AP) -- A Qatari investment firm is on a shortlist of nine bidders invited to make submissions to buy and manage the development of London's Olympic Village after the 2012 Games.
The property company of the Arab state's royal family has submitted a joint application. The Qatari Diar bid with British property developer Delancey would deliver 1,439 of the 2,818 new homes to be built in east London on the site of the village.
Five of the bidders are British firms or consortiums, and there are also applications from foreign private-sector organizations.
U.S.-based firm Le Frak Organization has teamed up with J.P. Morgan and English company Aviva plc; Toronto's Pinnacle Capital has put in a joint bid with British property investor Dorrington; and Hong Kong's Hutchison Whampoa Limited also has been invited by the Olympic Delivery Authority to submit an application.
The successful bidder will also take over a nearby area with the potential for a further 2,000-2,500 new homes.
"The quality of this shortlist is a vote of confidence in the quality of the Olympic Village," said David Higgins, the authority's chief executive.
Formal offers and proposals are to be submitted this spring and a final decision is expected in the summer. The deal could reportedly be worth more than $775 million.
Qatari Diar is the firm behind the $1.5 billion development of the British Army's Chelsea Barracks in London, the most expensive property deal struck in Britain.
Oil-rich Qatar, which recently won the right to host the World Cup in 2022, also has investments in other high-profile London developments such as Harrods, which was sold to Qatar Holdings for a reported $2.3 billion in May.
The other 1,379 new homes to be built on the site of the athletes' village were purchased by joint-venture group Triathlon Homes last year.
