Crossrail is on the look-out. With the design phase of the £32bn scheme almost complete, the team behind London’s mega infrastructure project hit MIPIM for the first time this year to find development partners to work with on seven schemes covering 2m sq ft in the capital. Crossrail’s director of land and property Ian Lindsay met with EG in Cannes to explain how the scheme is progressing and to reveal just what he is looking for from potential new recruits over the next 12-18 months.
There is never a dull moment when it comes to Crossrail but now is a particularly crucial time for the project. Can you explain why?
We are at a stage where the designs for Crossrail are 95% complete and we are looking at over-site developments now and beginning to take them through the planning process. In total our development pipeline is about 3m sq ft across 12 key sites above and around our infrastructure. We have partners in place on five of those already and we have planning approval for four.
By the end of this year we hope to have most of our schemes with planning in place and we can then start the process of bringing additional partners on board for the seven schemes and 2m sq ft of development where we are not yet partnered up.
Is there any additional pressure now that so many eyes are on the project post-London 2012?
I think we were aware there was an element of baton transfer from the Olympics to ourselves as the biggest infrastructure project in town. I don’t know if we have necessarily felt under more pressure, but clearly there is a responsibility. The olympic team did a great job in terms of delivering the project on time and on budget and selling London’s place as a world city. Of course we want follow in their footsteps. We are actually about one-and-a-half times bigger than the Olympics in terms of the value we are putting in to the ground.
Is everything on track time and budget-wise so far?
Yes. Crossrail as a project won’t come on stream until December 2018. We have to go in and build the stations that will act as foundations for the developments which will sit on top. It will probably be very late 2016 or early 2017 before we are in a position to hand over the stations in a completed external shell to development partners so they can start building. But we wanted to get the planning consents in early so we will be doing that this year with a view to go out and market the sites and bring developers and investors on board. This should give them time to make changes to the planning applications if that’s what they want to do.
Are you eyeing any particular partners at this stage?
We already work with some good firms: Derwent London at Tottenham Court Road, Grosvenor at Bond Street, Great Portland Estates at Hanover Square. Those are the sort of firms we will be looking to partner with.
Will you be looking for fresh blood, though?
Absolutely. The reason we are here at MIPIM for the first time is to spark interest in even more developers and investors to bring more partners on board. We are just at the start of that process now. But our intention is that over the course of the next 12 to 18 months, we would go out and make approaches to key players in the market and invite them to see if they are interested in the opportunities we have. This would be with a view to making a shortlist before selecting partners to work with, either on a site-by-site basis or to potentially look at some developers taking on more than one site.
It is bound to be a competitive process. What will you be looking for from new partners? What impresses you?
We want developers who are going to work with us on a long-term basis. And really crucially, we want people who have a good track record of delivering big, complex projects.
What do you think Crossrail’s reputation is in the property sector, both in terms of the scheme and as one of London’s biggest clients?
All indications suggest that it is viewed pretty positively. We are different from other rail projects as we have deliberately focused on development and property issues as well as the infrastructure. We did a study with GVA last year which shows just what kind of impact Crossrail will have on the property sector. The report estimated that by 2018 we will have created a 20% impact on the market on the areas immediately around Crossrail stations – so values will be 20% higher around stations than elsewhere in London.
Would you say there are some property firms and investors who have a better grasp of the value of Crossrail than others?
Yes, and we are here at MIPIM to promote the reasons it could be so good for developers and investors to get involved and it is why we put that impact research in place last year. We were aware of the impact ourselves but we wanted to get that information out there so others were prepared. By that I specifically mean making planners aware and developers too, so they can start to capitalise on the potential opportunities.
We are very conscious that although we have a number of sites above and around Crossrail stations, we don’t own all of the land by any stretch of the imagination and we want to maximise the regeneration potential of the scheme by making other landowners aware and getting them to bring forward projects in time.
What do you think the creation of the Crossrail line will mean for the future of London’s mid-city – could it leave it as something of a no man’s land?
I don’t think so. The heart of London’s employment opportunities will always be in the centre of town. And we will bring 1.5m additional people within a 45-minute commute of central London and we connect all of the capital’s major existing centres. So you can travel direct for the first time from Heathrow to Paddington to the West End, City and Canary Wharf all within a single Crossrail journey.
If you had to pick the three most important effects Crossrail will have on London what would they be?
Number one is that on a Monday morning in December 2018, the rail capacity of London will increase by 10% overnight. That’s the biggest single increase in London’s transport capacity since the Second World War. Number two is place making. Crossrail is the first UK rail project ever to have planned the stations, the over-station developments and the surrounding public realm improvements valued at £100m as one integrated project. And finally our impact on jobs and training, including the establishment of our underground tunnelling academy, which will be another legacy project.
Did you ever imagine you would end up in this role when you started your career?
No, and I am a lucky man. Crossrail is at the forefront of infrastructure and property development. I have such well-located sites in the centre of London that I can bring to the market and so many opportunities to offer. It’s a fantastic role.
Listen to the full interview with Ian Lindsay>>
