Aviva Investors and Galliard Homes have announced a tie-up that could see a residential scheme worth hundreds of millions of pounds built on the site of the Cantium Retail Park, SE1.
Aviva has picked Galliard as a joint venture partner to help it bring forward planning for the 4.7-acre site on the Old Kent Road, which is occupied by B&Q, Halfords and Pets at Home. There is also the potential for a development tie-up afterwards.
Aviva bought the site for £30.1m in 2010. It made an application for small retail amendments, before considering ideas for a residential scheme after the Old Kent Road was designated as an opportunity area.
Plans for the site are still in consultative stages, but a scheme well in excess of 500 homes could easily be accommodated.
Simon Welch from Savills Development, who represented Aviva Investors in its search for a jv partner, said the scheme would lead the way in the regeneration of the Old Kent Road.
The site is one of a number in or around the area that could benefit from the extension of the Bakerloo line from Elephant and Castle to Lewisham, which essentially follows the Old Kent Road.
EG revealed two weeks ago that Mount Anvil was planning a 1,400-home development on the nearby 7-acre New Cross Gate Sainsbury’s site in a jv with the supermarket.
Berkeley has also assembled a large site near the adjacent Asda superstore. It conducted an environmental impact assessment in September 2016 for 886 homes on its Malt Street regeneration site in a scheme that includes towers rising up to 36 storeys.
However, as yet no large-scale scheme has planning permission.
The opportunity area was first announced by then London mayor Boris Johnson in early 2014, essentially allowing for a preference towards higher density residential schemes.
However, it has been the increasing likelihood of the Bakerloo line extension that has catalysed interest in the area. After a consultation in 2014, the proposed route was not decided upon until December 2015.
TfL is undertaking another consultation due to close in April, which confirms the route, and it intends to bring forward the proposed completion date to 2028/29.
Stephen Conway, chief executive at Galliard, said “Old Kent Road is clearly an area of tremendous opportunity offering us the ability to deliver more quality homes to combat the lack of supply and ever-growing demand within Southwark.”
The retail units will be knocked down, while the ground floor retail of any new scheme will be a matter for consultation with Southwark Council.
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