One of London’s prime areas is set for extensive commercial property expansion, courtesy of ‘the UK’s most valuable planning application’, finally submitted after three years of consultation.
Earl’s Court, home of the Olympia, Royal Albert Hall and a Rubik’s Cube of a train interchange, will receive £8bn of investment in a scheme that is on a ‘huge’ scale, according to developers CapCo.
The 11.4m sq ft master plan contains provision for 1.6m sq ft of office and retail commercial property, 7,500 homes spread across four villages, a new Earl’s Court High Street and 23.5 acres of public space.
Reports suggest that 12,000 jobs will be created, including those involved in the projected £4bn cost of construction. CapCo are said to have tailored the submission to dovetail with Mayor of London Boris Johnson’s London Plan, the 2009 planning document that sets out a framework for the capital’s economic, environmental, transport and social evolution over the next 20–25 years.
According to the Financial Times, friction is anticipated around moving some of the existing residents from the site. CapCo have pledged to provide the 750 families, currently in council accommodation, with alternative homes. The developers are keen to take advantage of the lack of multiple ownerships or listed buildings on the site, which they say is a rarity, and they state that ‘London needs these jobs and these homes’.
Local MP Andy Slaughter has responded by saying he has ‘never seen a developer act so at odds with the interest of the people whose lives they claim to be improving’.
Adding a twist to the commercial property tale is the footnote that Prime Minister David Cameron’s ‘Big Society’ initiative could scupper the expansion. Local tenants want to transfer planning powers from the council to themselves as part of the government’s localism agenda. If they succeed, prospects for the development could be halted, something that all commercial property developers should be wary of in the future.
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