My son works for Lend Lease, a construction management company. I just found out that they built the Athletes' Village for the London 2012 Games. Once the games are over, the village will be a fabulous neighborhood in East London. Below is the article he sent me. There is a link to the village's website at the end of the article. Very impressive.

The Olympics' 17,000 athletes and officials have moved into the Athletes' Village for the London 2012 Games.

Many of you would be aware that Lend Lease was appointed by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) as Development, Project and Construction Manager - transforming the 34 hectare site in Stratford, East London beyond recognition.

From an industrial wasteland to an impressive new neighbourhood of 2,818 homes across 11 residential plots, complete with spacious courtyards, gardens and balconies, as well as a world class education campus and multi-use health and medical centre. In addition, Lend Lease was responsible for delivering the exceptional landscaping across the site.

The resident facilities themselves are kitted out with high-speed internet access, while there is also an on-site canteen that can cater for 5,000 people at any one time.

It will later create a legacy of new homes and a vibrant new community for East London offering the best of city living. High-quality homes – affordable and private, rented or owned – will be matched with newly created parkland, public squares and some of the best transport connections in the capital.

Dan Labbad, Chief Executive Officer, EMEA said: “My congratulations go to our outstanding development, construction, logistics, security and facilities management teams who have successfully delivered what is the biggest construction site in Europe. Their determination, teamwork and commitment to Incident & Injury Free ensured the safe delivery of Athletes’ Village on time and budget. Looking beyond the Games, Lend Lease has created a major new residential community for East London pushing the boundaries in residential product design, procurement, delivery and sustainability.”

Take a look at some of the feedback we received as the athletes started to arrive:

United States Olympic Committee (USOC): “It is absolutely beautiful and we love our building. Someone said there is a great “spirit” inside the village that we didn’t have at past villages and I think they are right.”

Tom Daley, Team GB Diver tweeted: "The athletes' village is awesome, it really is. We were the first British team to enter the Olympic Village so it was really exciting."

American 400 metre runner Tony McQuay tweeted repeatedly about the “beautiful village”, adding: “I wish I could bring this village back to the US.”

The BBC news reported that "Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has sung the praises of the athletes’ village at the Olympic Park which he said was the greatest Olympic Village ever built ...........”

Lend Lease will commence the retrofit process at the Athletes’ Village post Games, managing the preparation of the homes for residency in 2013. For more information on what the Village will be like once the Games are over, and its legacy begins, visit www.eastvillagelondon.co
.uk .

But for now.... let the Games begin!