Land Securities is plotting a major mixed-use redevelopment of London’s famous Piccadilly Lights island site, in what will be one of the highest-profile projects in the UK.
LandSec wants to demolish several buildings on Shaftesbury Avenue, Denman Street and Regent Street, W1, including the former NatWest building, while retaining the faces of 19 and 20 Denman Street and the Piccadilly Lights.
In their place, the REIT wants to repopulate the island site, which houses the curved LED advertising hoarding, with a 248,000 sq ft mixed-use project.
That would represent a significant uplift through filling in the space with a six-storey building with three basement levels, which is currently occupied by 153,000 sq ft of office, retail and leisure space.
Around 48,000 sq ft of safeguarded retail will be retained.
LandSec began site assembly in 1968, bringing the island holding, known as Monico, into single ownership in 2012 by buying the 23,354 sq ft 19-23 Shaftesbury Avenue.
The project includes 73,000 sq ft of shops, restaurants and cafés on the lower three floors, with 171,000 sq ft of new office space and seven luxury flats. A cinema, small theatre or performance space and improvements to the public realm would be included in the development.
As many as 34m pedestrians pass the block – which houses the famous Coca-Cola hoarding – every year.
The electronic advertising hoarding frontage is believed to have first been illuminated in the 1890s. At 32m long and nearly 7m tall, it is the UK’s largest curved LED display.
Fletcher Priest Architects designed the scheme; JLL is advising on planning.
