Land Securities has sold Ealing Filmworks to St George.
St George’s is understood to have paid around £16m for the site in Ealing, W5.
The site has permission for a 1,000-seat Picturehouse cinema in a ‘film quarter’ connecting Walpole Park, Bond Street and Ealing Broadway, with a new public square, 75,000 sq ft of shops, restaurants and 161 new homes.
LandSec had been selected as Ealing council’s development partner in 2012, winning the compulsory purchase order from the Secretary of State in October 2015 to buy the rest of the land needed.
St George also has permission to redevelop Dickens Yard, a nearby 4 acre site in 2009, to have 700 homes and 104,000 sq ft of retail space, and a new 104,000 sq ft of retail space. So far, 367 homes have been built.
From October 2015: LandSec’s on set in Ealing
From December 2013: Big screen returns to Ealing
Riccardo Mai, head of development at Land Securities, said: “Land Securities is proud of the work we have done to facilitate development of the Filmworks project and bring a cinema back to Ealing.
“We are delighted to have now secured an agreement with St George, a company with unquestionable track record of delivering major developments.”
Michael Bryn-Jones, managing director of St George, said: “We are delighted to continue our investment in Ealing with the acquisition of Ealing Filmworks.
“It will complement the success of Dickens Yard delivering a much wanted cinema, fantastic new shops and restaurants in the heart of Ealing town centre, as well as high quality homes.”
Julian Bell, leader of Ealing council, said: “This brings us a significant step closer to the cinema’s return to Ealing.
“The Filmworks scheme is a fantastic opportunity to revitalise a large part of Ealing town centre to create a cultural quarter, more jobs and new homes.”
