Long-mooted plans for a £75m student housing skyscraper next to the Shard, SE1, have been scrapped in favour of luxury flats.
Bilford’s and Investream’s decision to tear up plans for a 500-bed, 31-storey scheme called the Quill will usher in a new proposed scheme expected to generate a 67% higher return.
The original Spparc Architecture-designed plans were given the go-ahead in 2010 but then faced a judicial review challenge by neighbouring landlord Zurich Assurance and site manager Threadneedle Property Investments. They claimed that an appropriate environmental assessment had not been undertaken.
Plans to sell the development last year failed to materialise.
The change of use to 119 flats at the site at 40-46 Weston Street is part of a growing trend of investors favouring residential schemes in London because of their soaring values.
Values for student accommodation in Southwark would reach £900 per sq ft, compared with £1,500 per sq ft for private flats, according to Roger Lown, head of student housing at GVA.
Lown said: “I am certain there will be more of these conversions. It makes sense, but it will not do anything to help the shortage of student accommodation in London.”
