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

 City of London 

Estates Gazette reports that Great Portland Estates has submitted fresh plans for its 332,000 sq ft redevelopment of City Tower and City Place House, near Moorgate. The £600m project will see the lower and ground floors of 40 Basinghall Street gutted and the existing building at 55 Basinghall Street replaced with a 12-storey ‘high-quality, highly sustainable mixed-use building.’ The new building will provide 12 floors offices with flexible retail, restaurant, café and gym uses on the ground floor.

Islington

Bdaily reports that a new collection of residential properties at a mixed-use development in Islington has been fully sold. Real estate firm Cain International has announced that its ‘luxury’ penthouse and maisonette collection at Islington Square has completely sold out. The collection which includes 14 penthouses, have sold with a combined asking price in excess of £90m. Islington Square offers boutique shops, restaurants and leisure amenities forming 170,000 sq ft of commercial space, alongside 263 new homes and 108 serviced apartments.

Property Week reports that LGIM Real Assets has acquired Yotel London Clerkenwell for £70m from administrators James Cowper Kreston. The hotel at 96-100 Clerkenwell Road will continue to be occupied by Yotel under a long-term management agreement. Yotel London Clerkenwell is Yotel’s first London hotel and comprises 212 cabins, a restaurant, a co-working space with food services, a gym and a snack bar.

 Kensington & Chelsea

Bloomberg reports that The Vatican is considering the sale of a luxury London building embroiled in a financial scandal that drew papal condemnation and a probe into those involved in its purchase seven years ago. The building at 60 Sloane Avenue is said to be valued at about £200 million. Originally developed as a car showroom for the Harrods department store, the building spans more than 170,000 square feet of offices and retail space with a neo-classical terracotta facade. It has permission to be converted into 49 luxury apartments.

Lambeth

My London reports that the world’s first floating ‘sky pool’ is opening in Nine Elms next month. The Sky Pool, a 25-metre acrylic swimming pool, will stretch between the tenth storey of the Embassy Gardens’ Legacy Buildings, right next to the American Embassy and will allow exclusive Embassy Gardens member to feel as though they are floating above the city. The plan to build the pool was announced back in 2015 by Irish developer Ballymore and was dismissed by some at the time as a PR stunt.

Southwark

 Architects Journal reports that Southwark Council has announced that an independent estate-wide ballot of Peckham’s Ledbury Estate residents saw 86 per cent back its proposal to demolish all four tower blocks on the estate due to structural problems. The council proposed that the four towers be demolished in phases, starting with Bromyard House, and replaced with new council homes. Half of any extra homes built will be council homes, with the remainder for private sale. Southwark Council says top priority for the social housing are Ledbury tenants and leaseholders and former tenants with a right to return.

Tower Hamlets

The East London advertiser reports that floating pavilions have been towed on the Thames into Canary Wharf to house a new bar and restaurant complex with gardens. The London Project due to open by the end of the year is being moored at Water Square in the new Wood Wharf development at Blackwall to create “a close relationship” for people to experience what the former India and Millwall Docks were like. The London Project will include art, music and a gin distillery, with seating areas and aquatic plants.

Wandsworth

 The Wandsworth Guardian reports that a brownfield site that was home to the former Tooting Constitutional Club has gone on sale for £12 million. Wandsworth Council has granted planning permission for the construction of a 373-bedroom hotel around three to six storeys in height. The site also has a lapsed planning consent granted in 2016 for a 45-unit residential development. It is hoped that the proposed high-quality hotel will set a precedent for the wider regeneration of Tooting High Street.

Westminster

Property Week reports that according to footfall data compiled by the New West End Company, the number of visitors was higher than the anticipated 40% expected in the first week since non-essential retail was allowed to reopen. The first Saturday after the reopening saw footfall of around 70% of the usual April visitors and compared with last year’ s June reopening, overall footfall climbed by 125%.

My London News reports that a new 32-storey skyscraper could replace the Met Police’s former counter terrorism HQ in West London, plans show. Berkeley Homes wants to demolish Paddington Green Police Station and build 556 flats, as well as 6,170 sq m of retail and office floor space. This latest development would include three buildings at 32, 18 and 15 storeys tall. Of the new flats, 210 would be affordable, and 40 per cent of those would be for social rent. Berkeley hosted consultation events with Paddington residents in February and March, and its planning application was validated by Westminster Council last week

Westminster City Council has this week approved its  City Plan 2019 – 2040 which will now become the city’s new Local Plan. The City Plan 2019 – 2040 outlines the City Council’s ambitious strategy to make Westminster one of the best places to live, work and play. The new City Plan will replace all current policies in Westminster’s City Plan (November 2016) and saved policies in the Unitary Development Plan (2007). Further guidance on the revocation of old policies along with a range of briefings on the details of the plan will be released in due course.