Qatar may invest in Olympic Village

INVESTORS from the Gulf state of Qatar have proposed a rescue bid for the financially-troubled Olympic village.

Ministers of the oil-rich state have held talks with government officials about an investment in the £900million village project which is facing a cash crisis in the economic slowdown.

State-owned Qatar Investment Authority is willing to pump in money after Australian developer Lend Lease struggled to raise its £400million share of the funding.

The revelation came as Gordon Brown wrapped up a four-day tour of the Gulf states seeking help in dealing with the global financial crisis.

British government officials are now evaluating the deal under which QIA is also proposing to develop 100 acres of land adjacent to the village site where there is outline permission for five million square feet of offices, according to Estates Gazette.

A source involved in the discussions said a positive outcome was "by no means certain".

Under the plans, the Qataris would carry out the development through Chelsfield Partners, in which it took a 20 per cent stake in last month.

Company founder Sir Stuart Lipton, whose former company Stanhope once owned part of the village site, has been central to negotiations between Whitehall and the Doha-based investors.

When the Qatar Investment Authority announced its 20 per cent stake in Chelsfield last month, co-founder Elliott Bernerd said: "QIA knows the UK and European markets well. It is a long-term investor. There are opportunities that will become available because of the present market conditions."

It is thought the Qataris have been lured by the prospect of owning the 2,800 apartments in the Olympic village when the market is likely to be rising in 2012.

Olympics chiefs have been forced to take £95million for the village out of a likely £250million from a contingency fund and consider a full-scale nationalisation of the project an extreme option. The original December deadline to finalise a funding package has been extended into the new year.