The 20,000 seat arena proposed for inside the Millennium Dome will host more than 150 events in it's first year.

Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEC) plan to transform the Dome into London's top live entertainment and sports venue attracting premier acts and performers. The company, which cites the Los Angeles Staples Centre among its real estate holdings, will invest £200m to construct the Olympic standard arena and develop facilities immediately surrounding the Dome.

The area around the arena inside the Dome and outside of the Dome along the river will become the Dome Waterfront. Open seven days a week, the area will offer live entertainment, sports facilities, restaurants, bars and retail outlets.

AEC will finance, develop and manage the Dome under a partnership with Meridian Delta, the joint venture between Quintain Estates & Developments and Lend Lease, selected by the government as the preferred bidder for the Dome and the regeneration of Greenwich Peninsula.

Meridian Delta is proposing a joint venture with English Partnerships to develop a new community for London which includes more than 5,000 homes, offices, retail, leisure and parkland. The scheme would create 20,000 jobs and see an investment of £4bn over the next 20 years.

The companies have entered into negotiations with the government which should be completed by May 2002, when further plans for the site will be announced.