News

The house builder is paying £22.2m for the 0.9 acre Nine Elms Park plot, which it aims to develop in partnership with property and construction group  O’Shea.

The £130m scheme will consist of around 262 flats, of which a quarter will be affordable housing.

Royal Mail’s former South London mail centre site covers  14 acres, of which 8.35 acres are developable and hold outline planning consent.

Nine Elms Park is centred on a linear park, which runs the length of the site east to west, alongside residential-led development and commercial space.

It extends from the new US Embassy to the planned Northern Line extension, which will provide two stations within walking distance.  

With a masterplan by architects Allies and Morrison, Nine Elms Park comprises seven development plots and Plot C is the third plot to be sold, sitting on the southwestern edge of the regeneration area, overlooking the designated Park Basin communal/cultural open space, adjacent to the area of the site committed for a school.

Nine Elms Park outline plan

• 7 building plots, buildings up to 23 storeys.
• Overall floor space of 2.2m sq ft.
• Up to 1,870 residential units.
• 90,000 sq ft of retail (use classes A1 to A5, D1 and D2).
• 160,000 sq ft of business (storage & distribution) floor space (B8).
• A new ‘linear park’

Stephen Conway, Executive Chairman of Galliard Homes said: “Galliard Homes is pleased to have acquired this central London consented site, which once complete will be located within a park setting, just a short walk to the River Thames and Houses of Parliament.

“The wider regeneration area is creating a new destination for South London and has already attracted several major occupiers.”

Chief executive Mark Wild told the London Assembly Transport Committee that there are “thousands of hours of construction work still to be done.”

He said construction work on the stations is now scheduled to be completed this summer before full fit-out work and testing of the line gets underway.

The scheme is currently £2.5bn over budget and a new opening “window” will not be outlined until next month.

Wild said: “By the end of July we are looking for major construction work and wiring testing at the stations to be completed.

“We will then hope to have an opening window by the end of quarter one, but I have no idea how wide that window will be.”

The committee heard how the previous Crossrail management team had bungled initial system integration and testing on the route which was started too early alongside live construction work.

Wild added that the previous executive team had “been overwhelmed by the complexity of the task” of building Crossrail.

A number of former executives were paid hundreds of thousands in performance bonuses as they continually insisted the project was “on time and on budget”.

Wild took over as Crossrail chief executive in November when he discovered construction work on none of the stations was near completion and extra funds needed were £2.5bn rather than previous estimates of £300m.

The six-year regeneration project has now been approved by the London Borough of Haringey.

Work across five pieces of land next to Tottenham Hale’s rail, underground and bus stations will see construction of 1,030 new homes, up to 20 new retail spaces; co-working and office space; a health centre and new public open space.

Tom Goodall, Director, Argent Related, said: “We are very pleased the council and local people have put their trust in Argent Related to deliver the physical change Tottenham Hale deserves and we look forward to delivering on our promises.”

The proposals were developed by a consultant team including Alison Brooks Architects, Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, Pollard Thomas Edwards and RUFFarchitects, with landscaping design by Adams & Sutherland and Grant Associates.

Argent will be selecting construction partners in the new year.

The developer is understood to have a new construction framework in place containing Laing O’Rourke, McLaren, Sisk, Midgard and Rydon.

Another extra financing package worth more than £2bn was agreed on Monday afternoon as Crossrail chiefs admitted they couldn’t guarantee hitting the revised opening date of Autumn 2019.

The network was originally due to open this week after being heralded for years by the previous management team as “on time and on budget.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: “It has been increasingly clear that the previous Crossrail Ltd leadership painted a far too optimistic picture of the project’s status.”

Crossrail first admitted this summer that the project had bust its original £14.8bn budget by £590m and was running late.

The revised total cost of the project is now £17.6bn.

The latest financing package has been agreed by the Mayor of London, the Greater London Authority and Transport for London.

It comes as an independent review by KPMG into financing and governance on the project nears completion.

It revealed an estimated £1.3bn to £1.7bn shortfall in funding to complete the project plus the need for an extra £750m contingency fund.

New Crossrail chief executive Mark Wild also confirmed that “having reviewed the work still required to complete the project, an Autumn 2019 opening date could no longer be committed to at this stage.”

It was revealed that “core elements of the infrastructure being delivered by Crossrail Ltd, including the stations and the fit out of the tunnels, are at varying stages of completion and more funding is therefore required to complete it, as well as the extensive safety and reliability testing needed for the new railway systems.”

Mayor Khan said: “I haven’t hidden my anger and frustration about the Crossrail project being delayed. This has a knock-on consequence of significant additional cost to the project.

“It has been increasingly clear that the previous Crossrail Ltd leadership painted a far too optimistic picture of the project’s status.

“I have ordered the release of all Crossrail Board minutes in the last five years to provide transparency to Londoners on their decision making, and working with the DfT, brought in a new leadership team.”

Tony Meggs will become the new Chair of Crossrail Ltd replacing Sir Terry Morgan who resigned last week.

Meggs, who will step down from his role as CEO of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA), will oversee the final stages of delivering the Crossrail project.

The Crossrail Ltd Board will be further strengthened with the nomination of former MP Nick Raynsford as Deputy Chair.

Mike Brown, London’s Transport Commissioner, said: “Crossrail Ltd’s announcement of the delay to the Elizabeth line is extremely disappointing and, only now, is the scale of what is yet to be completed becoming clear.

“The confirmation of this funding agreement will now allow Crossrail Ltd and its new leadership to focus on finishing the remaining construction work on the stations and tunnels and then completing the vital safety testing in order to open the railway for passengers as quickly as possible.

Mark Wild, Chief Executive, Crossrail Ltd, said: “Since I joined Crossrail Ltd in November I have been reviewing the work still required to complete the core stations and rail infrastructure and begin the critical safety testing.

“It is evident that there is a huge amount still to do. Stations are in varying stages of completion and we need time to test the complex railway systems. This means that I cannot at this stage commit to an autumn 2019 opening date.

“My team and I are working to establish a robust and deliverable schedule in order to give Londoners a credible plan to open the railway and provide a safe and reliable service.

“Once that work is completed we will then be in a position to confirm a new opening date.”

The approval clears the final hurdle for developer Delancey’s plans to replace the once iconic centre with a new town centre-style scheme with new homes, shops, leisure and a new university college.

Demolition of the existing shopping centre in Southwark is now expected to get underway in the new year.

Delancey is using Mace as construction adviser for the complex scheme, which will form the heart of the wider Elephant & Castle housing estate regeneration being delivered by Lend Lease.

The developer’s plan includes over 170,000 sq ft of new shops and restaurants, a 1,000 seat multi-screen cinema and a 500-audience capacity grass-roots cultural venue.

The scheme designed by Allies and Morrison also involves building several housing blocks and a landmark building for the London College of Communication.

A City Hall spokesperson said: “This development will include nearly 1,000 new homes for rent – of which 35% will be at social rent or other genuinely affordable levels – as well as community space, leisure facilities, offices, an enhanced college campus, and improvements to the nearby Underground station.

“By working with the developer and the council, City Hall have secured an unprecedented level of support for traders affected, with their rents now capped below market rates for 15 years, and have got the level of rents in the affordable homes down even further.

“City Hall have used the planning powers available to their fullest extent to make sure these plans represent a good deal for the local area, and having considered all the evidence available, have decided to approve this application.”

Laing O’Rourke is on board to deliver the 575-home scheme in Ealing, regenerating a large light industrial site close to the Southall Crossrail station.

The 350,000 sq ft development will comprise a mix of build-to-rent, market sale and around 180 homes for shared ownership and affordable rent.

Designed by Cartwright Pickard, the development will also include 2,100 sqm of office space and 318 sqm of flexible commercial floorspace within four separate buildings of between 15 and 23 storeys with a 2-storey podium.

The scheme will be car free but with 926 cycle parking spaces and two dedicated servicing bays on Merrick Road.

Communal gardens and public realm space will be created on the Merrick Road frontage and landscaping, play and amenity space areas within the site.

35% of all residential units by habitable rooms will be affordable, with a tenure split of, 30% London Affordable Rent, 70% Shared Ownership.

The development in Merrick Road will act as a gateway site, helping to trigger the regeneration of Southall over the next decade, in line with Ealing Council’s aims.

Several large sites nearby have been purchased by other developers.

James Pickard, Director at Cartwright Pickard, said: “We are thrilled with the result of this planning application. The project is a fantastic opportunity to demonstrate the full potential of offsite manufacturing methods to speed up the delivery and improve the quality of new homes for London.

“Stanhope and Network Homes are forward-thinking organisations that are pushing the boundaries in terms of innovation and design quality, and demonstrating how homes in London will be delivered in the future.”

Storage specialist Access Self Storage is planning to redevelop a former Bodgers discount store with the 380-flat high rise.

According to planning documents just submitted to the London Borough of Redbridge, Skanska is on board as preferred contractor to deliver the project.

The scheme follows the storage business setting up a new brand to bring forward a wide portfolio of private rented scheme across London that will be retained as long-term assets.

The station road site sits opposite the new Crossrail Elizabeth Line station opening up the potential for the residential complex with two smaller podium buildings of offices and shops.

Access Self Storage is linking the new plan to a recent application to redevelop the Ilford Recorder newspaper building with a further 144 homes.

Together the two plans will deliver 520 homes of which a third will be affordable homes.

The One Station Road scheme has been designed by ColadoCollins with Curtins providing structural design and Hilson Morran M&E design.

The facade of the building will be brick clad with sky terraces on levels 32 and 37 where the building is cutback.

The planning documents states: “There is an exciting opportunity for positive change in Ilford. This application will form a small, but important, part of the transformation and kick-start the delivery of the Council’s Manifesto and Vision.”

This aims to make Ilford a London town again harnessing the benefits of Crossrail, building 6,000 new homes.

The £410m redevelopment plan will see up to 700 mixed tenure homes built at Juniper Crescent and Gilbeys Yard estates next to the Camden Goods Yard site.

These two estates are separated by a large Morrisons supermarket, which is to be demolished to make way for a separate 600-home mixed-use scheme being jointly developed by house builder Barratt and the supermarket chain.

Work is expected to start on the Barratt scheme next year.

Together these projects will see the wholesale regeneration of the Camden Goods Yard area with mixed tenure homes and 300,000 sq ft of shopping space.

Residents at Juniper Crescent and Gilbeys Yard have backed the rebuild option, which will see around 200 homes demolished across the estates.

Sketch of Juniper Crescent rebuild plan

Gilbeys Yard redevelopment plan

Under the plan residents living on the estates would be temporarily moved elsewhere while the building work took place, before returning to a brand new property on Juniper Crescent and Gilbeys Yard once they had been built.

Work on the estate rebuild should begin on the ground some time in 2020.