Brockton Capital is facing a refusal next week for its plans to transform the Mayfair block that housed Marco Pierre White’s iconic Mirabelle restaurant into a £400m residential scheme.
Proposals which have been worked up since late 2011 for 56 Curzon Street, W1, have been recommended for refusal by Westminster city council planners.
Brockton Capital, the fund manager led by David Marks and Jason Blank, is seeking planning consent to transform the tired residential building into a circa 100,000 sq ft PLP Architecture-designed scheme.
Proposals comprise 27 luxury flats, across six to eight storeys, a new restaurant and underground parking.
The existing block contains around 35 flats plus the Mirabelle restaurant, which closed in 2008.
Brockton does not consider on-site affordable housing financially viable, and has instead made an offer of £5.1m to the council’s affordable housing fund. The council was originally seeking £6.4m.
The planning application will be put before Westminster’s planning committee on 14 May. However, planning officers have recommended the project should be refused, based on two reasons.
“It is considered that your development would lead to a loss of housing units. Furthermore, the proposed development, in providing a limited number of exceptionally large flats, would fail to optimise the housing potential of this site, which would harm housing delivery,” a council report said.
It added that officers believed the building had scope for up to 80 flats.
Objections to the height of the development, which increases the building size by one storey on Curzon Street, have also been raised.
Discussions between the council and Brockton are continuing to try and reach a settlement ahead of the council meeting.
Brockton declined to comment.
joanna.bourke@estatesgazette.com
