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An artist’s impression of the Old Street tower |
Tower developers reject ‘tall stories’
Firm says it has no plans to reduce building’s scale
THE developers behind a 150-metre skyscraper on Old Street have insisted they have no plans to reduce the scale of the project.
Reacting to media reports that the global financial crisis had affected the company’s proposals for a huge development overlooking Old Street roundabout, Derwent London’s head of development Simon Silver said this week: “We’ve no intention of scaling it back.”
His words will disappoint the many Bunhill residents who have been fighting the plans.
Mr Silver also said the ailing market situation would not affect the project as work will not begin for another two years due to remaining tenants having up to two years left on their leases.
He said: “We’re a reasonably robust company. If we were going ahead tomorrow it would have an effect. We’re pushing ahead on all sorts of schemes. There’s no reason why we wouldn’t. It was never our intention to go immediately on site, whether the market was bombing or not.”
Derwent London plc describes itself as the largest central London-focused real estate investment trust with an investment portfolio of £2.5billion comprising 5.7million sq ft.
However, since this time last year, the company’s shares have almost halved, from 1475p in November 2007, to 845p in November this year.
But despite this, Mr Silver says the business remains in a healthy state.
“The size volume financially is not what we’re wary of at all, it’s the market we’re operating in,” he said. “We don’t have partners, we’re a public company. All our finance is in-house so we don’t have to get finance. We’re totally independent, we won’t be reliant on third parties.
“If we’re not pushing the button for two years we’ve the necessary headroom to do this in-house.
“We plan our capital expenditure over five years so this is within budgets. Maybe by the time we get to this we might not be gung-ho. We’ve got a reasonable amount of real estate.”
Mr Silver dismissed reports in this week’s construction industry press that Derwent London will have to reduce the size of the 39-storey glass tower, which will form part of a three-building cluster on Mallow Street, Featherstone Street and City Road.
He said: “Things do get varied but we’ve no intention of scaling it back. Even if we were, we’d have to go back to the planners. I don’t know that the plans need to change, but inevitably they always do.
“The permission in its current scale is what we’re planning on taking forward. It’s difficult because so many of the schemes we win permission on end up quite varied.”
Welcoming Communities Secretary Hazel Blears’s decision last week to overrule Islington Council’s rejection of the plans, Mr Silver said: “This did originally have planning officers’ approval and support, but it didn’t get through the planning committee so we feel slightly vindicated and I think we were right.
“I know the area intimately and the key to regeneration is the Old Street roundabout and everything around it. It’s an entrance to the City, something that’s really badly needed for that part of the world. It would be a real gateway for all the areas which are sadly lacking. It’s very down in the mouth here. It needs an injection and regeneration.”
But, Mr Silver said, he would not increase the amount of affordable housing, which stands at 55 homes on site and another 12 elsewhere in the borough.
“There’s a minimum of social housing in the tower and the site, which was part of the planning permission,” he said. “Affordable housing is non-profit making for developers. It’s a social tax in a way.
“Sometimes if you’re asked for too much the scheme becomes unviable, but here everyone’s happy.”
The main tower will have 250 flats, plus 100,000 sq ft of offices, shops, bars, cafés and an underground car park.
Residents objected to the height of the tower and the loss of a locally listed building overlooking Featherstone Street. Islington Council is looking for ways to appeal the decision. |
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