Chicago Loses Olympic Bid in First Round

CHICAGO-After years of planning, Chicago lost the bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics in the first round of committee votes. The city was in the running with Madrid, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro. Tokyo was eliminated in the second round of votes followed by Madrid in the final round; giving Rio the 2016 Summer Olympics.

According to reports, Chicago residents who gathered this morning in Daley Plaza gasped in shock when the announcement was made.

Both President Barack Obama and Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva flew to Copenhagen earlier this week to be present for the final plea to the committee. Obama is the first US president to personally appeal for the Olympics to be held in the country.

“We have been part of several Olympic pursuits across the globe–the Chicago 2016 bid was one of the most compelling Olympic bids in recent history,” David Roberts, managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle, tells GlobeSt.com.

Chicago’s plans called for the creation of five new permanent structures and 11 temporary buildings. Plans include a repurposing the South Side’s Washington Park to house a 95,000-person track and field stadium and an aquatics center. The stadium was estimated to cost $366 million to create and would have then been converted into a 10,000-seat multi-use venue after the games complete.

Additionally, the plans called for the creation of a $1.1 billion Olympic Village along the city’s lakefront just South of McCormick place in order to house athletes. The buildings would have been converted into condos and apartments after the games.

Real estate experts across the city donated their time and expertise to the Olympic bid, offering advisory services on the village and venues to the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid committee. Firms like Jones Lang LaSalle and Transwestern helped evaluate the city and potential venues.

Jim Thompson, director of Public Affairs at Next Realty LLC, was looking forward to the games coming to Chicago as they would “bring 30-40 years of infrastructure improvements to areas of the city that need it the most in a seven-year time frame and at a fraction of the cost.”

Now whether the city will move forward with any of the development plans remains to be seen.

Transwestern’s Rob Bagguley tells GlobeSt.com that the 2016 Olympics would have taken place in Chicago during an economic upswing, which could have helped further aid the city and the country.

According to information put out by the Chicago bid committee, “The effort to prepare for and stage the Games will create an economic stimulus for our region, generating an estimated incremental economic impact of $22.5 billion over the 2011–21 period, including the creation of 315,000 job-years of employment, $7 billion of incremental employment income, and more than $1 billion in incremental tax revenues to various levels of government.”