• Formal process to identify post-games tenant has begun
• Newham mayor says West Ham are ‘only realistic solution’

The process to find a tenant for London’s Olympic Stadium after the 2012 Games began today with the future of the £537m venue to be determined by the end of the year. The two main potential investors are West Ham and American sports and entertainment giant AEG, which revived the former Millennium Dome site near the Olympic Park.

The company in charge of ensuring the post-Games success of Olympic venues has given interested parties until 30 September to lodge proposals. It wants to establish key terms for a long-term lease by 31 December.

The 80,000-seat Olympic Stadium, which will host the opening and closing ceremonies and athletics events, was due to be downscaled after the Games to a 25,000-capacity venue mainly for track and field. But as interest grew in more widespread uses for the venue, the Olympic Park Legacy Company began a feasibility study, which attracted more than 100 expressions of interest in three months. The company wants the winning bidder to sign a long-term lease by 31 March and start revamping the stadium in November 2012. The aim is for events to resume on the site during 2014.

Bidders have been told they must have “the financial capability to meet the costs of the transformation of the stadium … and be able to demonstrate ongoing financial strength”.

Research conducted by the legacy company showed that a capacity ranging from 25,000 to 60,000 seats would be the most feasible. A track must be included, with UK Athletics wanting to stage top-level international meets at the stadium including the World Championships in 2015. World Cup football matches could be staged there if England’s bid to host the tournament in 2018 or 2022 is successful.

West Ham are bidding to maintain a 60,000-seat venue with a running track, while discussions have begun with cricket officials and UK Athletics.

“The last thing anyone wants is for the Olympic Stadium to become a ghost of Olympics past,” the Newham mayor Robin Wales said. “The only realistic solution is to make the stadium work for a Premier League football team and that should be West Ham.”

Margaret Ford, the chair of the Olympic Park Legacy Company, said: “The stadium is at the heart of the Olympic Park and securing the most appropriate solution is crucial to our long-term aspirations for the area.”

The capital budget for the Olympics stands at £9.3bn, nearly three times the original figure, and the additional cost of converting the park to its post-Games look is estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of pounds. The legacy company is taking possession of the site without any debt burden.

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