Chelsea Barracks £3bn redevelopment | Westminster | Proposed

[fitz44]

From yesterday's Standard;

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standa...sea/article.do



Revealed: £1bn barons of Chelsea

Benedict Moore-Bridger and Jonathan Prynn
31.01.08 Britain's most expensive home property deal was struck today when Chelsea Barracks was bought by the Qatari government and the Candy brothers for £959 million.

Located between Sloane Square and the Thames, the 12.8-acre site is the most valuable residential plot to be redeveloped, at £75 million an acre.

It dwarfs the £150 million paid for the brothers' other flagship development, One Hyde Park in Knightsbridge in 2004.

[wjfox]

Hope you don't mind, but I moved this into its own separate thread: it's quite a significant development.

[CrazyMac]

Good luck to the developers on this one, they will need it

Chelsea = Nimby Central

[Officer Dibble]

Well I recently declared on another thread that while I think Prince Charles is wrong in some ways about tall buildings and is picking the wrong fight in the City, I do think we don't build enough classical architecture. So here goes...

My personal opinion is that site in Chelsea this would be best served by a traditional-looking residential development - grand terraces of luxury flats, with a couple of garden squares in there somewhere - could base it on some of the best 19th stuff, of which there's no shortage in SW1 - could even get as grand in parts as Eaton Sq. This can be done with modern amenities (lifts, underground parking, gym and pool, whatever), and a mix of modern (concrete/steel frames) and traditional (stucco or stone-faced facades) building techniques. Hope they wouldn't go for the evil security measures they've gone for with 1 Hyde Park, though, but that's another argument.

Unlikely to happen, I imagine, but it would be commercially smart (it's a pretty high-density model, and the market clearly places a premium on that kind of architecture) and it may also be their best chance of getting planning approval quickly.

OK you can shoot me down now.

[london lad]

£959m charge on Chelsea Barracks

01.02.08

Christian Candy and Qatari Diar buy MoD site in record land deal

By David Doyle

The Qatar Investment Authority and Christian Candy completed the £959m purchase of the Chelsea Barracks from the Ministry of Defence in the most expensive land purchase in UK history.

Project Blue, the joint venture between Qatari Diar and Christian Candy’s development company, CPC, is to pay £959m, equivalent to £75m/acre, to the MoD over the next five years. The joint venture will pay five instalments of £191.8m until 31 January 2011.

The final instalment will be funded by deposits from the sale of the luxury flats.

Project Blue paid the first instalment on 5 April 2007, when contracts were exchanged. The second instalment was paid yesterday.

It must now pay the remaining sums on 2 February 2009 and 1 February 2010 before the final payment in 2011.

Although the contracts exchanged 10 months ago, the joint venture has had to wait for the military units based at the barracks the historic headquarters for the Coldstream Guards to be moved.

Westminster City Council regards the 12.8 acre site as one of the last key redevelopment opportunities in London and has issued an extensive planning brief for the barracks.
Click here to find out more!

Nick Candy said: ‘This is going to have a massive impact on the City’s economy and London’s rental values.

‘The joint venture has a huge responsibility to deliver something outstanding.’

Westminster council wants half of the housing to be affordable and the development to achieve the BREEAM ‘excellent’ standard.

The development, close to the Thames and south of Buckingham Palace, will have woodland, a 54,000 sq ft sports complex, and a low carbon footprint.

The MoD sold the barracks, which comprises armouries, offices and residential quarters for 1,284 people, as a part of its MoDEL strategy to create ‘a defence estate of the right size and quality’.

Guernsey-based CPC and Qatari Diar are developing the site.

Candy & Candy has been appointed as development manager and interior designer.

The joint venture hopes to have planning granted by early 2009 and the development completed within five years.

[henry]

Picture of the Masterplan by Skidmore Owings & Merrill



http://www.som.com/content.cfm/chels...ks_master_plan

[london lad]

Not sure if that was the one that was progressed as I though Rogers & co masterplanned it (they are certainly designing the buildings).

[Officer Dibble]

Ah. Then it'll look more like this...


than this...


Great.

[El_Greco]

Originally Posted by Officer Dibble

Beautiful.

[Officer Dibble]

Originally Posted by El_Greco

Beautiful.

ha ha. no.

[storms991]

Originally Posted by El_Greco

Beautiful.

Strange

[El_Greco]

I love my industry.

[NothingBetterToDo]

Thats a massive site for such a sought after location.

Personally, i hope they keep the new developments low rise. I wouldnt want any pastichey designs though, modern, high quality materials and interesting design is what i want, so i think Rogers is the best man for it (as opposed to Foster...as only those two architects exist you know ), he can be relied upon for stuff that looks great, without yelling for attention.

I actually quite like 1 Hyde Park, in terms of the way it looks and fits in with its surroundings, whilst still looking distinctly modern.

[Astounded]

It's just the right spot for a 820m slender tower. Make the first 20 floors open so the NIMBYs can look right through it at their fav old buildings ha ha.

[Black Cat]

Originally Posted by henry

Picture of the Masterplan by Skidmore Owings & Merrill



http://www.som.com/content.cfm/chels...ks_master_plan

Looks like the barracks character is being retained in this redevelopment!

On the north side of Vauxhall Bridge is an example of a new development styled as a mid 19thC Pimlico terrace. If this is the design approach to follow, we could look to Nash's terraces for inspiration.

[Downfallen]

I cant wait to get in there for a nose about ...

[Officer Dibble]

Originally Posted by Black Cat

On the north side of Vauxhall Bridge is an example of a new development styled as a mid 19thC Pimlico terrace. If this is the design approach to follow, we could look to Nash's terraces for inspiration.

You mean Bessborough Gardens (1980s):


If Rodgers is the architect, it's very safe to say it'll look nothing at all like that.

[DarJoLe]

Originally Posted by Officer Dibble

If Rodgers is the architect, it's very safe to say it'll look nothing at all like that.

Well thank god for that.

[fitz44]

The current buildings are already looking a bit shabby and neglected without regular maintenance.

On the corner of Pimlico Rd;



The main barracks block along Chelsea Bridge Rd;



These residential towers are along Ebury Bridge Rd - the red brick must have looked quite smart at one time;





But now they're looking their age;



There is one nice surprise on the site. This old victorian chapel is still standing and will hopefully be included in the new scheme.

[chrissyb]

Why do Westminster Council 'regard it as one of the last key redevelopment opportunities in London'?

Is that it then when that's finished - we're all done? What a an odd statement - I suppose they mean Westminster - it's still an odd statement though.