[Reposted from April 2013] Hammerson (& Standard Life & London Communications Agency): From Hero to Zero in twelve months!

'Planning' Magazine:

2012

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2013

"Entering the Top 100 in pole position for 2013
is a project that looks set to dominate
the listings for years to come.


"Nine Elms on the South Bank is a 12-year venture
that aims to revive 25 inter-connected sites,
spread across 195 hectares of Thames-side
between Lambeth and Chelsea Bridges.

“...Among the ... schemes that have dropped out
since last year’s listing, the most prominent is 
Brent Cross Cricklewood,
in north-west London.
[It was THIRD-EQUAL from the top, last year!]

“A spokesman for the partners behind the scheme
said they had decided not to submit information,
because it is likely to see some changes [sic]
in the months ahead."

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Comment: We believe this indicates that the overall £4.5-billion, 14-million-sq-ft scheme at Brent Cross Cricklewood has now been abandoned, because the money cannot be raised for a profitable development.

This plan included demolishing over 200 existing homes.

Developer Hammerson only has a new out-of-town cinema at Brent Cross in its new short-term “development pipe-line” (www.hammerson.com/property/developments/).

Many in the BX Coalition believe this cinema scheme should receive the blessing of Barnet Council, but no here!

It could be used to reverse decline of one of Barnet’s high streets, if the council were willing to be pro-active in helping the cinema chain involved with its welcome investment.

[Reposted] Hammerson and Standard Life Investments: North Circular Road diversion through Whitefield Estate suffers from '2013 Rephasing Error'

"A house sits awkwardly in the middle of a newly built road in Wenling,
Zhejiang province in China. An elderly couple refused to sign an agreement
to allow their house to be demolished. They say that compensation offered
is not enough to cover rebuilding costs."
Photograph: China Daily/Reuters: The Guardian

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The view from a different angle
(Link to Hammerson web site)

"Brent Cross, situated in affluent North West London, enjoys a loyal customer base with 14 million visits per year. Anchored by John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Fenwick and Waitrose, the centre is regularly the location of choice for international fashion retailers launching in the UK, such as Abercrombie & Fitch’s brand Hollister and Banana Republic.

"Recent lettings include Arsenal Football Club, Schuh, Lola & Grace, Kurt Geiger, Basler, Intimissimi, Calzedonia and Footlocker’s new concept store, Locker Room. Inditex has recently upsized its Zara store and re-geared its lease to introduce its new flagship format. The centre benefits from strong road transport links: it is served by three main arterial routes– the M1,A406 and A41 – three train stations, and a major bus station on site.

"Hammerson and JV partner Standard Life have secured planning consent for a major extension to the centre which includes the Cricklewood development area adjacent to the centre."

Ownership:	41%
JV partner:	Standard Life (59%)
Property net internal area:	83,700 m2
Key dates:	1976 developed, 1995 refurbished
Tenure:	Leasehold
Principal occupiers:	Fenwick, John Lewis, Marks & Spencer, Waitrose
Number of tenants:	115
Unexpired lease term to expiry:	8 years
Occupancy rate:	99.5%
Environmental rating:	ISO 14001

Rent passing:	£18.4 million p.a.
Average rent passing:	£1,120 per m2

Vince and The Future

Link to web site

"Foresight projects are in-depth studies looking at major issues 20-80 years in the future. Recent examples include Future of Computer Trading, Global Migration and Global Food and Farming Futures. Foresight uses the latest scientific evidence and futures analysis to tackle complex issues and provide strategic options for policy.

"A Foresight project does not set out to predict the future. But on the basis of a thorough understanding and analysis of the subject in its broadest perspective – and an awareness of different ways in which the future may develop – we can identify a range of possible outcomes.

"The purpose of our futures work is to assist decision makers now to understand how the decisions they make today might affect the future. In this way, Foresight can help policy makers to reach more stable decisions that are more likely to survive the uncertainties of the future."

'Foresight is funded by the
Department for Business, Innovation & Skills

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The Future of Cities

"A Foresight project reporting in 2015, THE FUTURE OF CITIES will take a long-term look at how UK cities can best contribute to economic growth over the coming decade, taking into consideration

wellbeing,

equity, and 

social inclusion,

which are all vitally important for cities and their citizens."

'Mass Routine Cycling overtakes Lycra' on Hammerson's Brent Cross 'Living Bridge' (not that it would join up to segregated cycle lanes anywhere else)

From 'Cyclists in the City':

"Every so often, it's time to remember that although things are by no means ideal for cycling in this country, there's a reason we all get on our bikes. And there's a reason we keep getting on our bikes, even when the government, the local authorities and the court system let us down again and again. Somehow, this video kind of captures that reason for me. I hope it does the same for you too.

"Well done to Halfords for commissioning this piece for bikeweek."

[Reposted from June 2012] Imaginary memo from Hammerson to Standard Life Investments

"We have concluded, after detailed retail research, financial analysis, and sticking a wet finger in the air, that:.

• doing nothing to Brent Cross shopping centre is not an option
• a minor refurbishment or extension is not much better - certainly not the best option
• the 'Living Bridge' idea is the most profitable scheme (better than the consented scheme!) and provides the best returns.

"We need to tell Barnet Council that the first viability test, due in 2012, must be relaxed. Yes, Barnet is dysfunctional, but par for the course, unfortunately. [Source]

"We all know that the Brent Cross north side would have to subsidise the south side, but it would be less if the first phase were to be made larger, or if our construction costs could be reduced. Discussion of the housing costs will be depressing.

"Anyway, Standard Life, you could just invest in the north side (no change there, then). Or you could join in a new partnership vehicle that would develop both sides. You will probably go for just the first option, but then we'd need to convince you that the south side would actually happen!

"If you fancy a partnership vehicle, it would be an odd mixture of retail property investment (bog-standard to real estate investment trusts, like us), retail and commercial development, and residential investment - and that's not very common! Goodness knows how we ever got involved in this mess. 'Shopping-Centres-R-Us', that's what Hammerson would rather be.

"Of course, in today's uncertain economic climate and stock market chaos, big new development projects are going to be hard to support, but let's all hope for the best!

"Remember what we tried to get away with in 1996? What a lark that was!"

Click above to enlarge

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Link to HOME (see all posts).

[Reposted and expanded] Barnet Press: "Developers unveil new plans for Brent Cross development"

Link to web site

"REVISED plans for a £4billion regeneration of Cricklewood and Brent Cross have been announced by developers.

"The proposals will go on public display on Sunday, and include changes to the existing application, which was approved by Barnet Council in 2010.

"Developers Hammerson and Standard Life Investments’ latest plans for the redeveloped shopping centre include a network of covered streets lined with shops as well as a main square and river side park."

From Retail Week:

"Developers Brent Cross Cricklewood Partners, comprising Hammerson and Standard Life, have made three amendments to the £4bn regeneration of the area, which was granted outline planning permission in 2010.

"As outlined in the existing application, the shopping centre will be fully refurbishment with new stores, hotels, restaurants and leisure facilities developed on the current car park. Parking will be moved to multi-storey car parks around the development. No additional retail space has been added as part of the amendments."

From Barnet Times:

"Under the plans, the existing Brent Cross Shopping Centre will undergo a 'complete transformation' and renovation.

"Car parks surrounding the centre will be developed with shopping areas, hotels, restaurants and cafes.

"A £200million investment in the road network, including a larger Staples Corner junction and improvements to junctions on the M1, A41 and North Circular Road will also be brought forward under the revised plans.

"... Planners will go back to the authority with their amendments later this year, before submitting detailed plans in 2014 if outline consent is given."

From Evening Standard:

"Brent Cross shopping centre went into battle with Westfield today, revealing plans to build shops, restaurants and a cinema under a giant canopy.

"Developers want to create a network of covered streets around London’s oldest mall to help it compete with its rivals in Shepherd’s Bush and Stratford. The Westfields are attracting 70 million shoppers and total sales of £2 billion a year. By comparison, Brent Cross, which opened in 1976, is generating 14 million visits a year.

"Today, developers Hammerson and Standard Life made a new attempt to revive the long-delayed £4 billion regeneration scheme for the shopping centre and wider Brent Cross area."

Evening Standard: "The world has capital investment in its sights"

Link to web site

"Chinese property investment in London leapt from £21 million in 2011 to over half a billion last year. News yesterday that China’s Dalian Wanda has bought a site in Nine Elms with permission to build two residential towers signals that 2013 will be the year when foreigners buy more British commercial property and development sites than domestic purchasers [buy].

Hans Vrensen, global head of research at DTZ, the agent that is due to announce a demerger from its Australian parent next week, says:

“We see continued support for London retaining its top ranking as the most liquid international investment market."

Daily Telegraph: "It’s the end of this road for the high street"

Link to web site

"When it comes to the high street, few can rival Bill Grimsey’s footfall. 'Veteran retailer' is the phrase he uses to describe himself on the cover of Sold Out, his hard-hitting manifesto on the future of the high street that is attracting the attention of ministers and property companies alike.

It pulls no punches. The high street, it argues, is 'as good as dead already'. Current government spending, prompted in part by the 'false hope' of the Portas Review, is 'a short-term fillip'; too little, too late. No amount of 'clichéd arguments' blaming the supermarkets, the shopping centre developers or 'the e-tail party' is going to reverse the long-term trend away from the high street, because it runs too deep.

"Yet the closing sections sweeten the pill with proposals to see the high street restocked, by placing itself at the core of a reinvigorated local manufacturing base and at the heart of community services. And such a vision is at the heart of the independent 'alternative' high street review that Grimsey has announced this week, with the backing of Andy Clarke, the chief executive of Asda, among other senior retailers."

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Link to "The Vanishing High Street"

Barnet Times: Family homes, and town centre market. Can't be LB of Barnet, then.

"Market revamp moves one step closer"

"A car park that houses Barnet’s most historic market will be given a revamp under new ownership.

"The St Albans Road site in High Barnet was bought by developers William Pears, as part of a £34million takeover of The Spires shopping centre, in May.

"Under plans approved by Barnet Council last week, the car park will be resurfaced with new drainage, and proper fencing will be constructed around the site."

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"Barnet Council approves plans for multi-million-pound Dollis Valley Estate regeneration"

"The Dollis Valley Estate in High Barnet will be demolished under the plans, submitted by developer Countryside Properties and commissioned by Barnet Council.

"... Phase one of the project, which could get underway by the end of the summer, includes the creation of a community centre and nursery, as well as new road access to the estate from Mays Lane, car parking and bike storage.

"The estate, labelled as 'isolated blighted post-war housing' by planning officers, had been identified by Barnet Council as a priority for regeneration."

(Link to web site via images)

British Land & Oxford Properties: "We are fairly actively looking for more development opportunities." (We don't suppose...?)

(Estates Gazette)

[Reposted] GVA "Grimley does it." A repetitive and ungrammatical report. Not your best!

"Plans have been approved for the Brent Cross Cricklewood scheme, which will create a new town centre for the area, providing 7,500 new homes, new retail units, new social and community facilities, improved and new open public spaces, as well as improved transport infrastructure.

"This will create a new a new centre [sic. This is nothing - elsewhere there are whole paragraphs repeated!] in one of the capital city’s major suburbs. There is considerable support at local level for the planned development in this area, as set out in the Unitary Development Plan (UDP, now superceded) and the Development Framework. [The 'Supplementary Planning Guidance' (SPG) mentions over 29,000 extra cars every day!] The introduction of the Opportunity Area Planning Framework (OAPF) will go further to demonstrate this support. [Not sure that we ever got an OAPF.]

"Considerable investment in transport infrastructure, land acquisition and industrial development has been made. [No idea what that means. But Hammerson purchased land before the crash!] ***

"It is recommended that efforts are focussed on maintaining the working relationships between the Council, GLA, local developers and key owners, in order to ensure the successful development and regeneration of this area. Therefore it is recommended that public sector intervention is focussed on:

• Ensuring transport upgrades are delivered in line with key development phases to improve accessibility to new provision
• Linking employment opportunities to the local workforce to maximise a closer live-work relationship
• Providing affordable housing to overcome existing housing-related drivers of deprivation
• Ongoing support and engagement with the existing delivery partnership to identify early on any potential barriers to achievement."

"As part of the planning permission, a £964m commitment to improving local infrastructure has been made by the developers [no, really!] including:

• £500m of investment in transport, including £189m on environmental measures
• £200m for road improvements
• £109m on community infrastructure, including new health facilities and state-of-the-art new premises for three local schools
• £112m on cleaning up the land and disposing of waste
• A new train station on the Midland Mainline [they mean the Midland Main Line, not the old train operating company], a new bus station, new bridges and cycling routes, new facilities for Clitterhouse Playing Fields, new open space
• A new town centre for north-west London."

"Transport infrastructure improvements will include a new mainline train station and freight service on the Midland Mainline [we've told you once about that], providing connections to King Cross station ... [It is actually St Pancras - although there was a 'Kings Cross Thameslink', so we'll give the benefit of the doubt there.]

"The planned developments and regeneration for the London Riverside Opportunity Area have the potential to have a significant impact on the wider area. [Since Riverside is 3 000 hectares of east London, did they cobble together this Brent Cross report from that one, without changing the name? Does that explain the rather strange sentence marked *** above?] [Who knows?] [Who cares?] [Although, did LB of Barnet pay for all this guff? The report may have been commissioned solely by the 'London Development Agency'.]

"The Council is seeking to promote development of this area, which can both take advantage of its strategic location and enable the regeneration of the surrounding communities in Barnet and the adjoining boroughs."

Cricklewood Brent Cross Opportunity Area by

(Archived file - there are some minor formatting errors in the PDF file - some of the lettering got so bored, it slid down the page slightly.)

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Link to HOME (see all posts).

Barnet Press: "Edgware residents fear new supermarket will kill off smaller shops" (and they don't mean Brent Cross, apparently)

Link to web site

"ANGRY residents and traders in Edgware have urged people to boycott a proposed Tesco Express they say will destroy their close-knit community.

The supermarket giant could open a local store in the ground floor of the former Sparrow pub in Glengall Road as early as autumn, while the rest of the building will be converted into flats.

Tesco say the new store will create jobs and attract customers to the area, but residents say it will kill off local businesses and wreak havoc on the narrow roads."

[Reposted from May 2012] Stewie Murray: Now at Boris's Top Table (will Hammerson get any crumbs?)

"LB Redbridge chief planning and regeneration officer Stewart Murray is to become assistant director of planning for the Mayor of London.

"Murray will move to the Greater London Authority (GLA) this autumn. He will lead both the London Plan team and the Planning Decisions Unit, reports Planning Magazine.

Link to the North London Strategic Alliance

(which wrongly asserts Barnet is a member!)

"He has been at Redbridge since last year. Before that, he was Director of Planning, Housing and Regeneration at LB Barnet.

"He has also worked for the City of London, and in the planning team at the GLA.

"While at Redbridge he has managed the introduction of the council’s Community Infrastructure Levy, one of the first to be implemented in the UK."

"Borisstan: the independent city state and docking station for global wealth formerly known as London"

Link to The Guardian

"By the summer of 2030, David Cameron wasn't a name that meant much to most Britons. Ed Miliband? He barely rated a mention from the Will Straws and Euan Blairs now running the Labour dynasty.

"Yet there was one early-21st-Century politician who could claim a permanent legacy. Little urchins would break off from intense communion with their iJobs™ to pull off a passable impersonation. 'Cripes!' They'd say, while ruffling their hair. 'Crikey!'

Boris Johnson, who else? He was the godfather and loudhailer of the campaign to make London independent from the rest of Britain. The fight had taken decades, but at last it had triumphed: even while Scotland remained part of the UK, the erstwhile capital had broken away and was now its own city-state.

"This latest signatory to the UN charter was officially dubbed Great London, but most people used an informal name that honoured its inspiration. They called it Borisstan."

Daily Telegraph: "Building societies warn on 'house price bubble'"

Link to web site

"The Building Societies Association (BSA) has joined criticism of the Government's Help to Buy scheme, warning that it could create a house price bubble.

The BSA said it was 'critical' to have a clear exit strategy from Help to Buy's mortgage guarantee scheme in particular, which is due to launch early next year.

Paul Broadhead, head of mortgage policy at the BSA, said:

"Care is needed to prevent the actions taken today inadvertently causing a distorted housing market in three years time - a market where state intervention has artificially hiked prices."

Why is Hammerson's development at Brent Cross shared with a tax haven?

(and why does Hammerson employ a tax haven to run ts employee share ownership scheme?

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"In 2010, the plans for a new town centre at Brent Cross Cricklewood were approved by Barnet Council and the Mayor of London, paving the way for the biggest investment in the area’s history.

"The Brent Cross Cricklewood development partners have now made three improvements to the plans:

1. a new network of streets and spaces at and around Brent Cross;
2. introducing a major new pedestrian and cycle bridge over the North Circular Road; and
3. earlier delivery of some of the transport improvements across the whole area.

"Starting on Sunday 23 June, a series of exhibitions will provide an opportunity to learn more about these improvements, as well as what is already on its way as part of the approved scheme. Local residents will also have the chance to give their views and ask questions about the changes."

British Land: "Shopping centre development gain outweighs pain - but only just"

"Britain’s retail planning system is variable: variable in policy, variable in approach, variable in quality and level of response.

"Add to this inconsistency the hazards thrown up by judicial reviews and the new Community Infrastructure Levy and the retail development system finds itself in a difficult corner.

"All retail developers want is to create the new space required by both retailers and consumers, jobs and good shareholder returns. Right now the odds are against all three aims.

[Reposted and updated] Terry Farrell's Old Oak Common video (why is Hammerson and 'London Communications' too incompetent or ashamed to make a Brent Cross one?)

Link above for video and links
on 'London Reconnections' web site

"The run-down area will see 12,000 new homes and 40,000 jobs in Hammersmith and Fulham, if the Department for Transport (DfT) approve its high-speed rail (HS2) plans in December.

"It would result in a new transport hub and major interchange station linking Great Western and West Coast mainlines, Crossrail, Bakerloo and Central underground lines and Heathrow Express as the HS2 travels from London to Birmingham in just 49 minutes.

"A major regeneration of the area, dubbed 'Park Royal City', designed by world-renowned architect Sir Terry Farrell would revolutionise one of London’s poorest areas."

(These are somewhat fanciful short-distance light-rail routes;

'Stonebridge Park to Kensal' is maybe 'on-street-running', and

the other route may be 'segregated', partly on viaduct.

These may link to the 'North and West London Light Railway'!)

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A 'Brent Cross Coalition' study of the Old Oak Common area is on our Transport page.

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Link to
"Old Oak Common: 'Our circles are bigger than your circles, Hammerson".

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April 2013 Update:

Possible Boris Development Corporation

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Link to Home (see all posts).

Good News on House Prices: "Record high London asking prices driving property upturn"

Link to Evening Standard

"Record high London asking prices are driving a widespread upturn in the country's property market, a leading property website said today.

"House sellers' average asking prices have broken through the quarter of a million pounds milestone for the first time, while in London the average surged past half a million to reach £515,243.

"The new record meant that new sellers coming to market were asking £252,798 on average in June, representing a 1.2 per cent month-on-month increase on a previous record set in May, property website Rightmove said."

[Reposted from March 2013] Booming Wembley! "Designer outlet signs up Villeroy & Boch and Lavazza"

Link to Evening Standard

"London’s first designer outlet, next to Wembley Stadium [and with three railway lines to reach it] has signed up a batch of new names, including homeware retailers Villeroy & Boch and Oneida, as well as Italian coffee giant Lavazza.

"They will be joining shops including Marks & Spencer, Nike, Armani Exchange, Superdry and LK Bennett at Quintain’s London Designer Outlet, which is due to open later this year.

"... The 8-million square feet [Wembley City] scheme is being built in stages, with the first phase of cinemas, restaurants and shops to be completed this year."

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London

Designer

Outlet

Link

Kings Cross Development (Actual photos. Brent Cross will be virtual. Look out for the incinerator chimney!)

Link to more photos

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(Web site of Kings Cross development)

Barnet Times and Barnet Press (x2)

Boris and Hammerson leak image of new Brent Cross 'Living Bridge' (pedestrian route over North Circular Road, retaining existing Tempelhof Avenue bridge for light-rail)

(Hammerson's Brent Cross Incinerator chimney is in right-hand distance)

(Source)

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From Boris's
'2020 Vision:
The Greatest City on Earth'

"This document is to explain the agenda for London, so that we can make our case to government and to the world. It is a route map and a manifesto for Westminster and Whitehall, so that government has a clear idea of how investment in London can help drive the rest of the UK economy."

Creating the future

"We must decide the projects we need and then get passionately behind them. That means boldness, and also humility, because we can’t see round every corner, and we can’t get everything right.

"The world is full of planning disasters [the Brent Cross Cricklewood plan, from the useless Hammerson people?], from vibrant neighbourhoods that have been destroyed by urban expressways, to purpose-built global capitals that have perfect houses and perfect lawns and lovely wide boulevards - and nothing approaching a sense of urban buzz or community [Canary Wharf?].

A population explosion

"The London of 2026 will be busier and more full of human beings than at any time in history - and that is the biggest single challenge we face. According to the Government’s Official Census the population has risen by 330,000 since 2008, and our projections show that by 2016 it will reach an all-time high of almost 8.7m people

"From 2011 to 2021 the population will have risen by a million - the fastest rate of acceleration ever. We are going to hit 9m before New York, and approach 10m by 2030

"These astounding figures are essential to the argument that follows. This population growth is not so much a function of immigration per se, but of greater longevity and of live births in London, often to the families of immigrants.

"Many people may find these figures amazing and even unsettling; they may wish that a tighter grip had been kept on illegal immigration over the last decades. But we cannot wish those children away.

"We need to think about the future of those thousands drawing their first breath every week in London’s maternity wards. They are going to want happy, fulfilling and productive lives - and their chances of achieving that depend on the strength and the competitiveness of the London economy.

"With these demographic projections, we are going to need to find at least another 450,000 jobs for Londoners in the next ten years. We will need another 400,000 homes

"We will need new and better transport links to connect the two, to make both jobs and homes viable, and to allow the economy to perform."

"It is not the job of this document to puff rival cities,

but look briefly at this map of projected

and funded transport investment in [outer] Paris."

AGENDA 2020: Transport

... Secure a stable 10-year funding settlement for TfL, to:

• ... build a new Thameslink station at Brent Cross - Cricklewood

[Transport page]

 
BRENT CROSS - CRICKLEWOOD

"Since 2010 plans are afoot for a metropolitan-scale town centre at Brent Cross-Cricklewood with a new Thameslink station and the M1 Gateway. 10,000 new high quality homes and 22,000 jobs will be created. A new living bridge will connect an expanded Brent Cross retail centre to the south of Cricklewood.

"14 million square foot of new development and £4.5bn investment will transform the area."