Described as the last “major redevelopment site in the heart of the Square Mile”, Exemplar has sold the London Fruit and Wool Exchange building to M&G Real Estate for £55m. The property investor will now continue to work with Exemplar to redevelop the landmark site opposite Spitalfields Market and just over 200 yards from Liverpool Street Station – but a TV historian has warned that the scheme will damage the character of Spitalfields.
After a campaign to save the 1920s building London Mayor, Boris Johnson, intervened in 2012 to approve the plans when they were thrown out by Tower Hamlets Council.
Designed by Stirling Prize nominated architects, Bennetts Associates, the completed 360,000 sq ft scheme — retaining the original façade — will feature roof terraces, shops and restaurants as well as Grade A offices. Demolition work will start before the end of the month with the first of the project’s 2,300 new workers moving in by the spring of 2018.
“Having secured planning consent on our site nearly two years ago we have been working to secure vacant possession of the site and to prepare it for redevelopment,” explained Clive Bush, co-founding director of Exemplar. “We are now delighted to have partnered with M&G Real Estate to see the development through to completion.”
The original “culturally sensitive design” included 260,000 sq ft of headquarters office space within the 320,000 sq ft of Grade A offices and 40,000 sq ft of retail and restaurant units. It’s not known if M&G will seek to modify the £200m scheme.
“This purchase further demonstrates our capabilities of finding relative value outside of the traditional core Central London office markets,” commented Russell Bradman, Investment director at M&G Real Estate. “We are delighted to be working with Exemplar and The City of London Corporation to deliver this important project for London.
“It takes our investment in the area to over £600m in past 12 months,” said Bradman, adding that the site already benefits from excellent transport infrastructure.
“The addition of two Crossrail station entrances at Liverpool Street station and Whitechapel station, expected in 2018, will further strengthen transport links and ultimately make the building more attractive to potential occupiers.”
Announcing his decision to push through the scheme Boris Johnson said in 2012: “These plans will not only restore the façade to its former glory, but regenerate the Spitalfields area with thousands of new jobs, and brand new commercial opportunities … It will also make a vital contribution to the wider London economy and have a significant impact not just on Tower Hamlets but on surrounding boroughs as well.”
Not everyone was convinced, including art historian and television presenter, Dan Cruickshank, who led the campaign to save the building. He fears the development will mean the destruction of Dorset Street, where the Wedgewood china company had its first showroom and where Jack the Ripper murdered his last victim Mary Jane Kelly.
“The character of Spitalfields, which is special, characterised by small businesses, independent enterprises, is going to be seriously diluted and undermined and an historic street in a conservation area, Dorset Street, obliterated,” he warned.
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