Barnet Council has changed the timetable for the £4.5bn regeneration of Brent Cross, NW4, allowing developer Argent Related to start on site with a residential project next year as Hammerson reviews options for its stalled retail scheme.
The Brent Cross Cricklewood masterplan, which the council claims is one of Europe’s largest regeneration projects, covers 15m sq ft of development over 370 acres. It comprises Argent Related’s Brent Cross South, a new mixed-use town centre including 6,700 homes being delivered in partnership with the council; the redevelopment of Brent Cross Shopping Centre by Hammerson and Aberdeen Standard Investments; and a new Thameslink station, Brent Cross West.
Work on the shopping centre extension had been slated to begin first last summer. However, the deteriorating UK retail market has led to delays.
As a result, the council has now agreed to re-phase the planning consent to bring forward the wider regeneration while Hammerson and Aberdeen Standard Investments review the mix of uses for the mall extension.
A Barnet Council spokesman said: “When Hammerson announced in July 2018 that they were pausing the shopping centre development, the council’s top priority was to ensure that this didn’t delay the delivery of the new homes and infrastructure to the south.
“This meant amending the delivery strategy and funding arrangements for the new station and proposing revisions to the phasing set out in the planning consent, which was based on the shopping centre coming forward first.”
Argent Related partner Nick Searl, who is co-leading the Brent Cross South scheme alongside fellow partner André Gibbs, said: “We’ve had to go through a process with Barnet Council primarily to look at how Brent Cross South and the new Thameslink station can row their own boat and we’ve come to an agreement with all parties to achieve that.
“The shopping centre will come forward in its own way and in its own time but we are able to get on and do all the things we want to do on the southern side of the north circular.”
Argent Related now plans to start infrastructure works in early 2020 and start building in early 2021.
The station is set to open in 2022.
A spokesman for Hammerson and Aberdeen Standard Investments said: “We are currently reviewing plans for our future scheme at Brent Cross to ensure it addresses both changing customer and retailer requirements. We remain in active discussions with local stakeholders to support the wider regeneration of Brent Cross Cricklewood, including the new Brent Cross West Thameslink station and the mixed-use regeneration to the south of Brent Cross.”
Hammerson announced it was deferring the start of its £1.4bn extension of the shopping centre in July 2018, citing “turbulence” in the UK retail markets.
Despite the ongoing uncertainty of the shopping mall expansion, Barnet secured a £319.5m government grant in March to allow the Brent Cross West Thameslink station to go ahead.
Searl said the delivery of the station is crucial for Brent Cross South. “The station is now fully funded and works are on site. Originally the station came at the end of the project, which didn’t work so well. Having it in place early means that we can go out with confidence to deliver offices, residential and great public spaces.”
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