December 2009 Archives

Right at the start of 2009 I blogged about the Aldgate East Station site. In October 2008 it looked like this:

If you go down there today, it's going to look exactly the same. This was one of the first major developments to halt as a result of the credit crunch. The collapse of Landisbanki in this instance. I pass it quite regularly and have come to think that, if any building could be seen as a barometer of the current situation, it was this one. When this re-starts, so will the recovery. And that's how I was going to end this blog, until I noticed a small article, tucked in the bottom right hand corner of the In Brief column in the Estates Gazette (p18) this week. Here is that article, merry Christmas and happy new year:

Aldgate East project steams ahead once more

An £118m residential-led development above Aldgate East station, E1, that stalled following the collapse of Heritable Bank, is to re-start after developer Julius Properties settled its debt to the bank. Formation Group with JV Finance bought Julius out of the scheme and will seek to raise around £55m to build it.

Last August I blogged about the number of site visits we at LRR do each year*. Every week we're out there, whatever the weather, even if it's severe weather warning-don't travel unless you really have to-black ice-frost bite-wouldn't you rather be indoors kind of weather, like yesterday for example. You'd think that nothing much would be going on this close to Christmas, but you'd be wrong. This is Barratt's redevelopment of the South Thames Collage, Putney last August:

and this is what it looked like yesterday:

Now known as Putney Square, some units are already being marketed off-plan, ahead of the official launch. Prices range from £280,000 for a studio to £2.5 million for a penthouse. Looks like construction proper could start as early as March 2010. 

(*more than any other residential research organisation in London).  

Almost exactly 10 years ago, developer London & Bath submitted a planning application to erect a 31 storey office building on this site. After a number of refusals, re-submissions, amendments and nicknames ("The Chiswick Dick" was a popular favourite) the size went all the way down to 5 storeys, passing 26 and 15 storeys on the way.

So far nothing has been developed. However, London & Bath haven't given up. On the contrary, they have new plans for the site, designed by Ken Shuttleworth, already nicknamed "The Octopus". It'll look like this...

...and it needs to be built.

(Link)

A few days ago in the office we were discussing our top 10 most iconic buildings in London. Everybody's list was different, until it came to the No.1 slot. Top of the list was a building that hasn't even been built yet. The Shard.

This building has been in the pipeline for almost 10 years, and to be honest at first no one thought it was really going to happen. The spec hasn't changed much since those early days and it still sounds a little far fetched:

At 1,016 ft tall The Shard will not be one of the tallest buildings in Europe, it will be the tallest building in Europe. It will exceed 70 storeys, in which there will be 817,450 sq ft of office space, 22,669 sq ft retail a 500 room hotel not to mention numerous public viewing areas and auditoriums. In addition to the 70 habitable storeys there will be a further 15 storeys just to house the plant for the building.

Just think about that last line for a moment. The structure that holds the machinery to run the building is itself a tall building. The word we're looking for here is awesome.

 So we've established that, on paper at least, this is going to be an incredible building. But iconic? If you're unsure about that one, have a look at these:

 That was just the top, this is the whole building, close up...

...and the long shot...

 ...and at night...

 ...and finally 

But there are two things I haven't mentioned abouth the building. Firstly, the one thing that is hardly ever mentioned when it comes to The Shard, the residential element. It's not a huge component, only 14 units, but that's exactly what makes it so special. When all the office and shop workers have gone home, when all the restaurants have closed and when the viewing galleries are locked up for the night 14 people will have this building to themselves, there is the 500 room hotel of course, but lets not spoil it.

The other thing I forgot to mention, partly because I still can't believe it, is that The Shard is under construction and yesterday it looked like this:

If you'd like to debate the merits (or otherwise) of this building have a look at this forum.

I blogged about this one in July and August.

It is of course Heron International's Heron Tower in the City. I recon it's around 32 storeys high now, so that's just 15 left to go, by which time I'll have to be flat on my back to take a picture of it.

As you may be aware, all the winners (still 0) of the popular Pint of Milk Test Picture Quizes receive a property industry related prize. This usually* takes the form of one of these:

We wouldn't call it art exactly, but then we're not Gavin Turk. I blame the guy with the toilet for all this.

(*always)

If you're off to Stanstead airport anytime soon, and going by train, odds are you'll pass through Tottenham Hale. If you do, look to the east as you're going through, you'll see this:

This is student housing on an industrial scale by Unite (who else). Nearly 700 of them will be housed here as part of the Hale Village redevelopment. However, until a few months ago this was the only thing under construction on the site. I go there last Friday and...

...another residential element has started. Ok it's not the private element, but Newlon's social element kicking off, but it's resi nonetheless.

So that's Innova Park, Beaufort Park and Hale Village all just started, not to mention this one:

This is Fairview's redevelopment of Colindale Hospital, with over 700 resi units in the pipeline. Construction is yet to start on the development, and due to the baracades, it's difficult to see exactly what's going on. But, on Friday afternoon, the sound of the diggers preparing the site for construction to start was clear enough.

It's not only Innova Park that had a surprise in store last week. Below is the future phase of Beaufort Park, the old RAF camp in Hendon...

...and it too has started construction. Some will remember this development as the one which burnt down a few months after construction started back in 2006. At the time Berkeley's Tony Pidgely said: "We'll have to dig up the foundations and completely start again". This development, it seems, is no stranger to the odd restart or two.

Last August I blogged about Circle Anglia's proposed development in Enfield at Innova Park. It's a curious development which started off as predominantly private but looks as though it'll end up being mostly social. Most of the private first phase on the southern periphery of the site is now occupied. The largely social element right in the middle of the site (which started off as mostly private), looked like this on my last visit:

However, last week, my expedition all the way up to Turkey Street was not in vain, because, despite my predictions, works have started...

Just come back from the above. It lasted around an hour and a half, some interesting points; these ones caught my attention:

   ·     Planning permission extension - as of the 1st of October 2009 developers will be able to apply for an extension to the planning permission on a site, usually 3 years, provided the consent was granted before 1/10/2009.

   ·     The Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) - only 13% of local authorities have adopted it, unsurprising perhaps since the levy, according to the Communities and Local Government's website will "empower, but is not required",

   ·     Boris' plans to subsidise Crossrail with S106 payments is falling short, by a long shot.

   ·     Housing delivery, at the moment is a mess. A weak pipeline coupled with low consent to construction conversion, in other words far fewer applications with a very low number of construction starts...

...the breakfast was nice though.

The three figures and the digger are silhouetted because it looks as though the soft strip of billionaire art collector and property investor David Khalili's Bath House in High Holborn has started.

Australian developer Lend Lease and Southwark council have finally agreed heads of terms for the £1.5bn regeneration of London's Elephant & Castle. The scheme will be delivered in 6 phases, with demolition work due to start in February 2010. Detailed planning consent for Phase 1 will be sought to be achieved by the end of April 2011. However plans for a new shopping centre will be delayed until the economy improves.

Cllr Nick Stanton, leader of Southwark Council, said: "This decision paves the way for another important step on our journey to transform the Elephant and Castle, to create a new, successful and vibrant urban quarter for Southwark and London."

Lend Lease will launch a hunt for architects to transorm the site with the first design contracts available next year. A Lend Lease spokesman said: 'We're working out procurement at the moment, but we'll definitely be going to the market. It's very important for us to access all the creativity out there.'

Positive signs have also been taking place recently on the Elephant Early Housing Programme, housing being developed to decant the thousands who live on the heygate estate. 16 sites will be developed to re-house the residents with 2 having gone under construction very recently (below). Another 3 are at permission and 1 is at the application stage. Another 10 sites then are still to be realised. A long way is still to go, but at least now it is moving in the right direction.