The Westfield effect sweeping Croydon has prompted the rebirth of a £350m skyscraper scheme in the south London town.
Guildhouse UK and Rosepride Properties are revamping plans for their 656ft One Landsdowne Road scheme on the back of the approval of Westfield’s and Hammerson’s £1bn Croydon mall last month.
Guildhouse chief executive David Hudson said: “Westfield has given impetus to the regeneration of Croydon.
“Their proposals are giving people the same belief in Croydon that we have had since we first started our scheme in 2006.”
The Guildhouse Rosepride jv won approval for a CZWG Architects-designed scheme in March 2012, but never started work on the project. It is now looking at dropping all 180,000 sq ft of offices from the existing consent in favour of increasing the number of flats from 397 to 600.
The scheme will still include a three- or four-star hotel as well as shops and restaurants on the ground floor.
Plans are expected to be lodged in the spring, with construction hoped to begin in early 2015 and complete in 2019.
The jv will look to bring in a funding partner once planning is secured.
While Hudson said he expected the office market in Croydon to be booming by the time the scheme is completed in 2019, with rents rising from around £20 per sq ft currently to an average of £40 per sq ft, he warned that selling that story to the banks was still difficult.
“You cannot get banks to lend against that now,” said Hudson. “The residential market is flying, however.”
Values for new flats in Croydon have increased by 12% over the past year and they trade at a 27% premium to existing homes in the local market, according to Hometrack. In the past 12 months, average residential values have grown by 6.4% in the town.
Adam Challis, head of residential research at Jones Lang LaSalle, said: “Croydon is about to realise its potential. House prices will accelerate ahead of the London average, but not until 2015. The important factor is a shift in perception. People need to see real change to buy into the story.”
Hamptons International head of residential development and investment Nick Vaughan added: “We have UK and Asian investors buying in increasing numbers as well as owner occupiers. I expect house prices to grow 7% next year in Greater London and I can see that happening in Croydon too.”
The Guildhouse Rosepride scheme is more than double the height of Croydon’s current tallest building – the 308ft Altitude 25 tower.
“We want to deliver our scheme as soon as possible,” said Hudson. “It will be the tallest, sexiest building in Croydon, and it is right opposite the entrance to Westfield.”
In January, Hammerson and Westfield agreed to drop plans for rival schemes in Croydon.
They won permission for a 1.5m sq ft development at the end of November which includes a major overhaul of the Whitgift Centre and as many as 600 homes.
nick.whitten@estatesgazette.com
