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Developer Plans Up to 3,000 London Homes Next to Hipster Express

Developer Plans Up to 3,000 London Homes Next to Hipster Express

(Bloomberg) -- British Land Co. will seek approval to develop as many as 3,000 homes and work space equivalent to almost four Gherkin skyscrapers on a plot in south London’s Canada Water.

The real estate investment trust is initially seeking planning approval for 1 million square feet (92,900 square meters) of workspace, 250,000 square feet of retail and leisure space, and 650 homes on the site. Part of the 53-acre (21-hectare) plot, next to the London rail line nicknamed “the Hipster Express” because of its link to the tech hubs of Shoreditch and Hoxton, is currently used as a shopping mall.

Although the U.K. capital’s property market is in flux, demand for houses and apartments in districts that Londoners can afford remains strong. The average home in Canada Water sells for just over 506,000 pounds ($686,000), about 1.6 percent less than a year ago, according to data compiled by real estate website Zoopla.

A decision on the planning application is expected to to be made by the end of the year, according to Monday’s statement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Neil Callanan in London at ncallanan@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Neil Callanan at ncallanan@bloomberg.net, Andrew Blackman, Ross Larsen

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