British ministers face a new furore over the Millennium Dome after failing to find an outright buyer for the blighted attraction and agreeing instead a joint venture with a property and sports consortium.
Lord Falconer, the minister in charge of the Greenwich-based complex, is set to announce today a public-private partnership with Meridian Delta, a consortium led by property companies Quintain Estates and Lend Lease, and backed by Phil Anschutz, the US billionaire behind the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team.
The Conservatives said last night the outcome was a "humiliation" for the British government, particularly as it rejected a £125 million sterling (€202 million) offer for the site in February from the Legacy consortium, 85 per cent owned by Irish company Treasury Holdings.
Meridian plans to turn the Dome into a 20,000-seat arena for sports and live entertainment. The 150 acres of surrounding land will be used for offices and homes, some of which will be low-cost social housing.
The consortium will be named "preferred bidder", but it will be months before the transaction is signed and sealed. The British government has twice before named preferred bidders only to see the deals disintegrate.
The Dome has consumed £628 million sterling of British National Lottery money, although operators are expected to agree today to hand back about £20 million. The attraction has stood empty for a year, at a cost of more than £20 million.
