Backing the Olympic Village
ON Jan.9th Vancouver’s recently elected mayor Gregor Robertson released a statement detailing the city’s obligations as a guarantor for the financing required to construct the 2010 Olympic Athlete’s Village, a 16 building LEED Gold certified community on the South East shores of False Creek.
The Olympic Village is a billion-dollar project, and the City’s on the hook for all of it.
To my great frustration, we can’t turn back the clock on the actions of the last Mayor and Council. We are financially and legally committed to complete this project.
Clouds loom over Olympic Village
2010 Tracker Comment: It seems as though we finally have transparency regarding the obligations of the city and it’s tax payers. We depend on our elected officials to provide full disclosure on the situation and options available. For those in a condemning mood of having to backstop what could be up to or more than $1B of development costs I think they should keep this situation within the context of what is happening around the world and in particular our neigbour to the south still ailing from a global financial crisis. Several Municipalities are going bankrupt after investing their reserves in subprime related debt and CDO’s, something we can be thankful isn’t the case here. Vancouver is about to showcase a new sustainable community other cities will look to as a guide for future urban planning, lets leverage this opportunity to grow.
