A weekly round up of the latest planning and property news from the central London boroughs

Camden

Evening Standard reports that after six years of planning and three years of restoration, the historic London venue KOKO which opened as the Camden Theatre has unveiled plans to reopen its newly revamped 50,000sq ft space in spring next year. The venue has been closed since March 2019 and hit the headlines in January last year when 60 firefighters were sent to tackle a blaze which, at one point, engulfed a third of the building’s roof. Some £70m has been pumped into the redevelopment, which has enabled a four-storey upwards extension of the Grade II-listed theatre, as well as an expansion into two adjacent buildings: a former piano factory dating back to 1800, and the old Hope and Anchor pub, which counted Charles Dickens among its local patrons.

Estates Gazette reports that agents have put a development site up for sale in Camden, NW1, with potential for a life sciences or office-led scheme. Offers of around £50m are being sought for the freehold to Camden Point, a office block fully let to British Transport Police until late 2024. The existing building contains about 40,000 sq ft of office space, arranged over a basement, ground floor and six upper floors. However, architects have designed a proposed redevelopment containing up to 125,000 sq ft of offices across a basement, ground and nine upper floors. This could be used either for conventional offices or for a life sciences-oriented occupier, according to marketing documents.

City of London

Building reports that Cells at a grade II*-listed police station in the City of London are set to become private whisky-tasting rooms as part of a five-star hotel conversion. Plans to convert the 1960s building on Wood Street into a 216-room hotel were given the green light by City planners last week, with construction expected to start on site this year. Designed by architect DMA, the scheme will also see stalls for police horses in the stables converted into restaurant dining booths and the assembly hall turned into a grand ballroom. Meanwhile the central service yard will be covered over a new glazed roof, with the space’s original police car turntable transformed into a bar. The plans have received praise from heritage bodies including the Twentieth Century Society, which has expressed relief that the building will be largely kept intact.

Southwark 

Architects Journal reports that a detailed planning application for the industrial building, also known as Harmsworth Quays, has been submitted to Southwark Council as part of British Land’s wider £4 billion regeneration of Canada Water. The Printworks nightclub and events venue – which has a capacity of 5000 people – was granted permission to use the building while redevelopment plans were drawn up. The new scheme will see the industrial building turned into offices and divided into two ‘halves’ to provide space which can be operated independently, comprising a total of 38,410m² of offices and 1,920m² of shops. Designs are also emerging for Plot L, which is located on a brownfield site off Quebec Way behind the Printworks site. There, Haworth Tompkins is designing 237 homes in three housing blocks with 60 per cent social rented homes and 15 per cent ‘intermediate’. Meanwhile plans have also been revealed for Canada Dock, an expanse of water near the Tube station.

London News Online reports that a South London council has announced that housing developers must contribute to a new community fund if they do not reduce carbon emissions to an acceptable level. Money paid into The Green Buildings Fund, set up by Southwark Council, will go towards carbon reduction projects. This includes the decarbonisation and retrofitting of community buildings, schools and council housing. When the plan is adopted, the new energy policy will require all major residential development to reduce onsite operational carbon emissions by 100 per cent according to building regulation standards. Major non-residential developments must reduce carbon emissions onsite by a minimum of 40 per cent.

Architects Journal reports that US developer-investor Hines has snapped up a major empty site near Blackfriars Bridge, central London, and brought in Foster + Partners to look at new designs. The move is almost certain to spell the end for plans by WilkinsonEyre Architects and Brisac Gonzalez for the 18 Blackfriars Road plot in Southwark. These featured a 53 and a 34 storey tower and were approved four years ago. New owner Hines is working with Lipton Rogers Developments, the group led by Stuart Lipton and Peter Rogers, on a proposed £1 billion project. Hines said it intended to reveal further plans for a ‘’highly amenitised, dynamic’ mixed-use development ‘in due course’.

Tower Hamlets

Property Week reports that Canary Wharf Group has signed four deals to restaurant operators covering more than 44,800 sq ft of space in its mixed-use Wood Wharf neighbourhood. Hawksmoor has signed to open its biggest and first London restaurant in four years – a 150-cover restaurant and 120-cover bar, in addition to outdoor space. The London Project has taken 13,250 sq ft at the second floating pavilion at Wood Wharf, where it will operate an in-house gin distillery. Mercato Metropolitano has the capacity to accommodate up to 100 diners at its new flagship restaurant on the ground floor of 12 George Street. A live jazz music venue will be located on the lower level.

Westminster 

Property Week reports that global Holdings Management Group (UK) has let the 30,000 sq ft office element of the refurbished Broadwick House in London’s Soho to Copper.co, a provider of digital asset custody and trading services. The refurbishment of Broadwick House, which will be completed later this year, was designed by Hale Brown architects and includes a rooftop extension with a new duplex office floor and terraces on the 6th and 7th floors. Josh Lawrence, CEO of Global Holdings Management Group (UK), said: “This letting, well ahead of the completion of our planned refurbishment, supports our strategy of buying buildings with medium-term income that can be transformed via development into innovative and beautiful office space.”

Westminster City Council has published a report summarising the findings of its comprehensive Internal Review which can be found here. Following the review Stuart Love (Chief Executive of Westminster City Council) stated ‘The council must learn the lessons of the Mound project. We will continue our efforts to revive Westminster’s economy post-pandemic and to ensure our residents continue to receive first class services.’ You can read the full statement here.

Construction Enquirer reports that Multiplex is set to start on site on a speculative 65,000 sq ft office scheme for developer Grosvenor above the Elizabeth line’s Bond Street western ticket hall following the handover of the site by Transport for London. Construction is due for completion at 65 Davies Street in September 2023. The appointment of Multiplex was the first major contract race run by Grosvenor taking into account bidders’ commitment to science based targets for carbon reduction. From 2023 Grosvenor expects to only award contracts over £1m to suppliers with measurable green targets.

General 

Property Week reports that flexible workspace provider WeWork is set to join the stock market after its merger with special-purpose acquisition company BowX Acquisition Corp. The merger will provide WeWork with approximately $1.3bn (£950m). The companies plan to begin trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol ‘WE’.

Property Week reports that real estate investor Octopus Real Estate has partnered with Homes England, the government’s housing delivery agency, to create the Greener Homes Alliance. The alliance will commit £175m to provide both loan finance and support to SME housebuilders, enabling them to build more “high-quality, energy-efficient homes throughout England”. As part of its efforts to expand the supply of finance available to SMEs, Homes England will provide £46m of the £175m