by Alex Catalano
Rosehaugh Stanhope Developments, one of the two contenders for British Rail’s 120-acre King’s Cross Station redevelopment, clearly like to think big.
The company currently have some 15m sq ft of floorspace either under construction or being planned in London, with 10m sq ft being in Docklands. The latter includes the £750m proposal for Royal Albert Dock, approved by the London Docklands Development Corporation.
This is not likely to get under way until the 1990s.
Further west, RSD have already started work on Blackwall Yard, where Reuters have bought the first phase of 295,000 sq ft for £35m, with options on the remaining 705,000 sq ft. With adjoining sites at East India Dock and Brunswick Wharf, RSD — and partners, Berkeley House — will be building about 4.6m sq ft in this corner of Docklands.
In the City proper, there are 4.5m sq ft in two projects involving British Rail sites. About half the space is in the remaining phases of Broadgate, RSD’s successful development at Liverpool Street Station.
At Holborn Viaduct, RSD and British Rail Property Board have been given outline permission for around 2.25m sq ft. However, the scheme incorporates sites in other ownerships.
If British Rail succeed in getting Parliament to approve their Bill to route part of the track underground, Holborn Viaduct could start in 1989.
The Rosehaugh part of RSD are, of course, substantial developers in their own right, as well as through their subsidiary companies. At West Thurrock, landowners Blue Circle Industries and Pearson have formed a joint venture with Rosehaugh’s Pelham Homes to develop Chafford Hundred, a new town of 5,000 dwellings in Essex. Work on the infrastructure will start next month, and the first completions are scheduled before the year-end.
Other subsidiaries include Rosehaugh Co-partnership, who are involved in almost 1m sq ft in three projects in Docklands, and Rosehaugh Heritage, who are starting work on the 200,000-sq ft Fleet Walk shopping scheme in Torquay.
Shearwater Property Holdings are another Rosehaugh subsidiary, specialising in retail schemes; they are developing Blue Water Park in Dartford with Blue Circle Industries. And Rosehaugh themselves have a substantial programme of provincial office and retail projects, plus a long-standing permission for 600,000 sq ft of space at East Croydon Station.
The other side of the RSD equation is Stanhope Properties, who were floated last year on the USM. Here, Stuart Lipton and his team have two major projects of their own on the cards — 325,000 sq ft proposed for No 1 London Wall and a smaller, 112,700-sq ft scheme in Red Lion Square, WC2.
