The U.K. organizer of the 2012 London Olympics  didn’t take long to accelerate procurement of the Games’ building program management role. The government-appointed Olympic Delivery Authority shortlisted four teams of U.S. and U.K. heavyweights to manage the estimated $4 billion of venue and infrastructure construction.

Teams indicated interest to vie for the role as ODA’s “delivery partner” last late month. It will award a contract, due to run through 2013, late this summer. The winner will support ODA to develop and build Olympic Park, and oversee conversion of facilities to permanent use later.

ODA is set to start transparent “competitive dialogue” with shortlisted teams to develop detailed terms of the management contract for which they will all bid. Officials gave no schedule details. This will be the U.K.’s first application of the procurement process.

Higgins

The four shortlisted teams are Bechtel Group Inc., San Francisco, bidding alone; CH2M Hill Cos., Denver, with U.K. contractor Laing O’Rourke Ltd. and construction manager Mace Ltd.; AMEC plc and Balfour Beatty plc, both U.K.-based, with Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Pasadena, Calif.; and Bovis Lend Lease, U.K., and Kellogg, Brown & Root, Houston, with two British firms, Capita Symonds, a designer, and cost consultant Franklin & Andrews. Of major teams expressing interest, only a Parson Brinckerhoff-led group did not make the shortlist cut.

“This is a first-class shortlist from a very strong field,” says ODA CEO David Higgins. “We will continue the rigorous scrutiny of applications as we now move to the next stage.” 

ODA now is starting to procure ven-ue design and construction contracts, says a spokeswoman. Zaha Hadid Architects with Arup Group Ltd. are now designing the park’s Aquatic Centre. But Higgins says work still depends on acquiring the remaining 10% of the 500-acre site not yet in ODA’s hands. That must be done by 2007. ODA is preparing bid documents to remediate the brownfield site.