The legacy of the 2012 London Olympics has been widely discussed in the media, with most economists claiming that the Games were beneficial to businesses both in London and in the UK as a whole. Furthermore, the commercial property development in and around the Olympic Park has helped to regenerate the area.
This week, iCity was granted permission by the London Legacy Development Corporation to transform the Olympic Park’s purpose built press and broadcast centres into a cluster for firms within the digital and creative sectors. The development, to be known as Here East, will cover a total of one million square feet and is expected to be fully operational by 2018.
According to iCity chief executive officer Gavin Poole, the site will give small London start-up firms in the digital and creative fields the opportunity to work alongside well-known global giants, thus allowing new businesses to benefit from the wealth of experience on hand. Furthermore, high quality infrastructure such as unlimited bandwidth connectivity will provide scope for rapid growth and high levels of productivity.
Mr Poole says; “As well as creating thousands of jobs and training opportunities, Here East will provide state of the art infrastructure and capacity for the fastest growing sectors of the UK economy to continue their impressive expansion.
“Redevelopment of the buildings will begin in the summer.
“I am also particularly excited that we will be partnering with Hackney House at South by Southwest, showcasing our plans and providing a platform for some of Hackney’s newest companies and budding entrepreneurs.”
iCity have already secured a number of tenants for the site, including Loughborough University, Infinity SDC and Hackney Community College, all of whom will begin moving in from 2015 after initial redevelopment works have been completed. They will be sharing the facility with BT Sport, which already directly broadcasts from the main broadcasting centre and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Around 7,500 jobs are expected to be created in east London as a result of Here East, meaning that the area will become one of the most important creative and digital hubs in the South East. Furthermore, depending on the success of the project this could increase further in years to come, especially as the area is due to benefit from the upcoming Crossrail project which will improve transport links to the City and elsewhere.
With Manchester now competing in the digital and creative sectors, largely thanks to the impressive Salford MediaCityUK development, Here East will add to the space this rapidly growing sector requires.
