News

Developer Anthology wants to convert the 1.6 acre site into 195 homes.

Amex House was formerly home of civil engineering contractor Durkin & Sons.

Anthology is hoping to receive planning approval this summer before construction work starts in the Autumn.

A contractor is due to be appointed shortly.

Adam Gaymer, Executive Director of Anthology, said: “We are delighted to have submitted our proposal for this site.

“We believe Wembley is one of the most promising regeneration areas in London and we are hugely excited to have a hand in its continued development.

“Amex House which will be known as ‘Anthology Wembley Parade’ forms part of our growing London portfolio and reflects our policy of investing in prime regeneration sites.

“We look forward to enhancing communities and unlocking the potential of other sites around London in the near future.”

The joint developers plan to start construction this autumn, to launch the new homes in 2017, after just gaining planning.

Their decision to go-ahead with what will be Bellway’s second major scheme on the vast site comes as several other major planned prime flat schemes for the area have gone on hold over jitters about demand for luxury flats in the capital.

Bellway’s and L&Q’s development at 46 Ponton Road, a central site in the 195 hectare Nine Elms masterplan, includes 357 quality one, two and three bedroom apartments, available to purchase through private sale or shared ownership.

Some commercial space will be built as part of the plans, bringing new retail and lifestyle amenities to the area for local residents.

The latest planned blocks represent a significant urban extension to the 510 homes being built by Bellway at its current development The Residence, which will overlook the American Embassy.

The first flats from the scheme will be launched onto the market in the Autumn.

Flats in main 19-storey tower block at The Residence to launch this autumn as Bellway starts second scheme

The London Borough of Ealing nodded through the 88-acre scheme, known as Southall Waterside, which weighs in as West London’s most ambitious regeneration scheme.

Berkeley said it plans to start significant enabling works early this year with the full mixed-use scheme delivered in several phases over 25 years.

The project will be delivered by Berkeley’s St James business, which has been advised by Mace on the site-wide construction management plan.

A sales launch for the first 600-home phase of development is scheduled for autumn 2016. Berkeley also plans up to 500,000 sq ft of commercial space, a two-form entry primary school and a health centre. 

The revised masterplan submitted after buying the site from National Grid Property will see over half the site dedicated to open space, which includes a substantial amount of landscaped public parkland, leisure and play spaces, and piazzas.

Sean Ellis, Executive Director, Berkeley Group said: “These gasworks closed almost 50 years ago, so approval of the Southall Waterside masterplan marks the start of an exciting new future for this 88 acre site.

“When 80% of new homes currently planned for the capital are in just three East London boroughs, this provides some welcome balance.”  

Consultant Arcadis estimates a total sales value of £77bn for these homes which are mainly flats and apartments.

The huge pipeline will intensify fears of an oversupply of “prime” properties in the capital.

The total floor space of planned prime homes in the capital is more than 40 million square feet – far greater than the area of the whole of the City of London (30.7 million sq.ft).

Arcadis identified 196 across the capital with the number of homes planned at 35,055.

And the consultant warned some of the luxury resi schemes will have to be “repositioned” into commercial jobs or even cheaper homes as demand at the top end softens.

Mark Cleverly, Arcadis head of commercial development, said: “Since around 2009, the value of prime residential property in central London has seen dramatic rises, making it one of the hottest markets in recent memory.

“That said, things are changing.

“Land, materials and labour are growing in price, meaning the costs involved in actually building these homes is growing significantly.

“This, coupled with a recent gradual easing off of buyer demand could affect margins and mean investors opt to convert their developments to target the more buoyant office and commercial markets.

“With no obvious end in sight to the unpredictability of the global economy this approach could soon become the norm.”

The site will also be developed with around 230,000 sq. ft. of modern industrial and urban logistics warehouses

Both partners will work with Hillingdon Council now to obtain planning consent for the major scheme at the former coffee and chocolate factory site.

SEGRO bought the 30-acre site in January in 2015 as part of its strategy to provide high quality urban warehousing to meet the growing demand from occupiers.

Alastair Baird, Barratt London’s Regional Managing Director said: “This year we are set to complete around 2,000 new homes across London and this agreement with SEGRO will boost our pipeline of future projects.

“It demonstrates that our technical capability in delivering complex schemes continues to provide us with a competitive advantage in London.

“Working with SEGRO, we will draw on our experience to design and build a great place to live and work on this important regeneration site in Hayes.”

The site is in a prime location for business and residents located next to the Hayes and Harlington railway station which will become a Crossrail station in 2019. 

The firm said the residential-led scheme, which obtained revised planning consent last month to replace a four-star hotel for more office space, would be delivered in two phases with a residential specialist brought in to deliver the luxury flats element.

Sten Mortstedt, Executive Chairman of CLS, said: “Our current intention is for the main site to be developed in two phases, the first of which could start in 2017 with the demolition of some existing buildings and the construction of a three storey basement, including 188,370 sq ft of Grade A offices and a residential tower.

“We are working towards focusing on the commercial part of the scheme in which we have an established track record, and are considering finding a specialist partner for the development of the residential element.”

The amended 1.6m sq ft scheme will now comprise 454 apartments in two 50-storey towers and 124 affordable apartments, 353,300 sq ft of offices, a 186-suite hotel, shops, a multi-screen cinema and a hostel.

The flagship site within the Nine Elms development area also contains a car park site that was sold to specialist developer and operator of student accommodation, Urbanest last year.

This has planning consent for a 454-bed, 30 storey student tower where work is expected to begin on the site later this year.

The redevelopment of Hertsmere House at West India Quay will deliver 869 flats within a 240.5m tall building, designed by architect HOK around a clover shaped footprint to maximise views for each flat.

The basement runs to a depth of just 11.7m as the site sits above Crossrail running tunnels, although all piling will be outside the Crossrail exclusion zone. Affordable housing will be included in the western wing of the building.

Around half the building facade is to be fitted with vision glass and the remainder will be fitted with highly-insulated metal panel backed glass curtain wall known as “shadow boxes” to give the building the appearance of being fully glazed from the exterior while reducing solar gain.

The demolition and construction phase will employ over 900 construction workers during a 55-month programme.

Planning permission was previously granted for a 242m 63-storey commercial tower on the site but these plans were superseded by the new residential scheme.

Setareh Neshati, senior planning manager at Greenland Group, said: “This is Greenland Group’s most important project in Europe. As well as delivering 921 new homes for Londoners, including 156 affordable homes, our scheme will revitalise this part of Canary Wharf and create a new prosperous environment that the whole community can enjoy.”

The Shanghai-based developer is also developing the high-rise Ram Brewery scheme in Wandsworth, London where Ardmore has replaced Kier to carry out the first phase of main building works.

After a two-year planning battle, the £100m build-to-rent scheme at 100 Avenue Road can now go-ahead.

The current 1980s building on the site, which was one of the first to be diagnosed with sick building syndrome, will be demolished to make way for the Theatre Square development.

The scheme, designed by Drid Architects, also includes a low-rise building above Swiss Cottage tube, as well as ground-level retail and leisure space.

Essential Living is backed by M3 Capital Partners, who manage US pension fund money.

Scott Hammond, managing director at Essential Living, said: “The extensive scrutiny of the scheme during the public inquiry has revealed the significant benefits of the scheme in terms of new homes for rent and community space.

“This is the right decision for the revitalisation of Swiss Cottage and we will now commence the work to deliver our proposals which we are calling Theatre Square.”

The construction contract is worth in excess of £100m at the north London scheme where demolition and site clearance work is underway.

Galliard Construction will now be supervising demolition the 1960’s block at the northern end of the job and starting pilling and groundworks across the site.

The fit out of new tenant facilities will begin in early 2017 with the project scheduled for completion in late 2017.

The 4.5-acre site behind Islington’s Upper Street will provide 263 residential apartments, 108 serviced apartments and 170,000 square feet of luxury lifestyle brands and restaurants alongside a Third Space Health Club and Odeon Lounge cinema.

The development contains a mix of Edwardian and new build elements, designed and master planned by CZWG Architects.

Giris Rabinovitch, CEO of Sager Group said: “There is a lot of activity on site, day to day you can see real progression within the scheme – it is all very exciting and we are on schedule for completion for October/November 2017.”

“We launched the residential apartments in February 2016, there has been a lot of interest and reservations.

“Commercially speaking, we have two key anchor tenants including The Third Space and Odeon Lounge, and a further 30 percent of retail space is under offer. We look forward to progressing the scheme and seeing our vision turn into reality.”