London-focused developer Helical has been selected by Transport for London as its “preferred bidder” to form a joint venture company for building offices for commercial use on TfL land, including above or close to Paddington, Bank and Southwark stations.
Helical will have a 51 per cent share of the new company and TfL 49 per cent, assuming ongoing negotiations are satisfactorily concluded.
The expected deal will be a further stage in TfL’s property development programme being advanced in tandem with developers. It began under the mayoralty of Boris Johnson with a view to getting more housing built with the revenue being investment in transport.
Already, TfL has a group of commercial developers and housing associations with which it works to bring forward schemes on its 5,700 acre estate, a build-to-rent arrangement with Grainger called Connected Living London and a role in City Hall’s small sites housing programme. There is also a TfL joint venture with Delancey to develop the former Earls Court exhibition centre site.
TfL launched its search for a commercial workspace partner last May, stressing that it aimed to deliver “sustainable” projects. Planning permissions are in place for all three station sites, with an eight-storey office and retail scheme to go above the new Bank entrance on Cannon Street, a 19-storey building for Paddington near its Elizabeth Line station next to the Grand Union Canal, and a 17-storey “hybrid timber” structure to rise above Southwark station.
The buildings will be “constructed on the basis of New Zero Carbon and the joint venture will collaborate with tenants to target a rating of BREEAM Outstanding and Platinum WELL v2 Core,” says TfL. Work is expected to begin on the Bank scheme next year, at Southwark in 2025 and at Paddington in 2026.
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