Drastic tactic used to bypass contractual row
Lucy Barnard
A designer loft company has put a development in Maida Vale, NW8, into administration over an unsettled contractual dispute.
Loft company Yoo NW8, an associate company of Yoo, created by designer Philipe Starck and developer John Hitchcox, decided this month to call in administrator Ernst & Young to manage the scheme after a dispute with Bovis Lelliot put the project more than five months behind schedule.
Hitchcox said: “I admit this was a case of using a sledge hammer to crack a nut, but the problem was growing all the time and we wanted it dealt with. This was a technical way of dealing with contractual matters.”
The move means that the entire development is now being managed by the administrators until completion. The scheduled completion date is now expected to be Easter rather than September 2001 as originally planned.
Hitchcox agreed that this was an extremely drastic thing to do. He said: “We thought about this for a long time and this was the most practical solution. If we had sacked the contractors we would have simply delayed the scheme further.
“Ernst & Young was able to sit down with a blank page and agree a new programme with Bovis Lelliot – with fixed dates and costs.”
The scheme of 38 apartments at 17 Hall Road will have an overall value of £30m.
Alex Oliver of Urban Space, joint agent on the scheme with Hamptons International, said: “Sales are going well. All the flats are under offer apart from four and we will be releasing the three penthouses in the next two to three weeks.”
Bovis Lelliot declined to comment.
