Price tag for Chicago Olympics is $4.7 billion
It would cost nearly $4.7 billion to stage the 2016 Olympics and Paralympics in Chicago, bid organizers estimate, making it a bargain when compared with the ballooning budget for the London Games.
The games also would generate $22.5 billion in new economic activity for Chicago and the state of Illinois from 2011 to 2021, according to a study released Thursday. The city of Chicago alone would see an economic impact of $13.7 billion.
"This is not at all geared toward saying, 'Look at us, this should make it more attractive to win,'" Chicago 2016 Chairman Patrick Ryan said. "The people of our community had questions ... and we got them answers for it."
Though Chicago's costs likely would rise somewhat because of inflation, Ryan said he is confident that, unlike London, the budget won't change significantly. London now estimates the overall cost for the 2012 Games will be about $16.5 billion, three times the original estimate.
"We have to look at bids individually for what (cities) already have and what they need. We're fortunate in that we have so much of our infrastructure already in place and modernized," Ryan said.
"We don't have the land costs because we have our park space, for example, and the financing on our (Olympic) village land," he added. "It's really quite different."
London is transforming a run-down section of the East End into its Olympic Park and has a $13.9 billion budget for venue construction and regeneration alone. The Russian city of Sochi has a budget of $12 billion to build nearly all venues from scratch for the 2014 Winter Games.
Chicago's bid relies heavily on existing and temporary venues, and organizers estimates construction and operation costs at $994 million. The Olympic village will cost another $1.2 billion, mostly paid for with private financing. Chicago 2016 organizers plan to sell the land to a real estate developer, who can convert the village to mixed-use housing after the games.
Finally, Chicago 2016 organizers are budgeting $2.4 billion for planning and delivery costs -- everything from security to transportation to staffing.
Some of these costs would occur whether Chicago is awarded the games or not next October. But the economic impact of Chicago hosting the games would more than cover the costs, the study by Sacramento, Calif.-based Tootelian and Associates found.
Visitor spending alone was estimated at $7 billion.
The study originally was done in early 2007, well before the plunge in the global economy. The firm re-evaluated its data and findings this fall, and decided its numbers were still valid because they are long-term projections.
"They did a comprehensive job of understanding the economy today," Ryan said. "These are numbers projected out pretty far in time. Yes, they certainly considered today's economy, but we're comfortable with their (numbers)."