French sporting goods giant Decathlon is back in the race to occupy the 1m sq ft Olympic media centre after teaming up with former rival bidder UK Fashion Hub.
The Decathlon-backed Oxylane Group withdrew its bid to be the long-term tenant of the 1m sq ft media centre in April, leaving just UK Fashion Hub and iCITY in the running.
However, Decathlon is now in talks to take part of the media centre for a UK headquarters from which it can instigate an expansion plan on this side of the Channel.
The group, which has 12 stores in the country, has a stated aim of increasing its presence to 100 stores across the UK.
A source said: “Decathlon’s vision was very similar to that of UK Fashion Hub, it just had more of a sporting focus.”
He added: “The firm is headquartered in Lille, Northern France, so thanks to the Eurostar connections the Olympic Park is an ideal place to set up its UK hub.”
Loughborough University, which was also part of the Oxylane bid, is also still targeting the media centre for a 90,000 sq ft postgraduate sports research facility. But it is understood to be hedging its bets on which of the two remaining bidders to side with and is continuing to hold talks with both parties.
The London Legacy Development Corporation is expected to announce its preferred occupier early next month.
Estates Gazette reported in February that the LLDC may share the media centre between its final shortlisted parties with the Infinity backed data centre element of iCITY coming in with UK Fashion Hub.
CBRE is acting for the LLDC.
All parties declined to comment.
Nick.whitten@estatesgazette.com
