L.A. 2024's Plan For $1B Olympic Village On Shaky Ground As Project Costs Rise

Less than three months after L.A. was selected as the U.S. bid candidate for the '24 Summer Games, plans to build a "sprawling community for 17,000 athletes near downtown appeared to be in doubt and a search is underway for possible alternatives," according to Michael Blood of the AP. L.A. 2024 "had proposed" a $1B development on a downtown rail yard, with virtually all financing coming from an "as-yet-unsecured private investment." L.A. Councilman Mitch O'Farrell told a City Council committee yesterday that it could cost up to $2B to "buy the rail site, conduct an environmental cleanup and relocate the yard -- even before any construction would begin." According to his estimate, that could "triple the projected cost." O'Farrell after the meeting said he does not "see a pathway for using" the rail yard. L.A. 2024 spokesperson Jeff Millman in an email wrote that the rail yard "remains the top choice but the group is looking at about two dozen alternatives" (AP, 11/18).