Woolwich town centre building sold in advance of development
A block in Woolwich town centre beside Beresford Square looks set to be demolished and redeveloped.
Developer Packaged Living and Buccleuch have purchased the site and intend to build a co-living development comprising of 150 rooms.
It’s not within the Woolwich conservation area and had previously been advertised for sale.
I recently had a nose about the place including the rear. Iceland used to occupy the site before moving to Powis Street.
A substantial site next door last year saw revised plans for housing and retail at the former Woolwich poly school site and market pound.
That’s set to feature 918 student rooms and 409 co-living rooms.
Most development in Woolwich now appears to mostly feature student development and co-living units. Over the road 299 student rooms are now rising at the old Catholic Club, while an adjacent block was recently approved.
That will see 120 student rooms.
Income
When Greenwich recently revised Commuinity Infrastrucutre Levy rates existing low student levy rates payable by developers to the autority were not increased, with the council claiming a lack of local precedent though other authorities have recently managed to do so.
Bromley, for example, set a student levy rate comfortably higher than Greenwich despite litte prior student development within the borough. Instead they used a wider regional measure to estimate rates which was accepted by the planninng examinor.
Thus we see areas near excellent tranpsort links such as Woolwich and Greenwich with very low rates to improve amenities and services within the borough.
It’s quite something when a place like Exeter levies a higher charge on developers than areas of Greenwich borough.
Greenwich have also specifically set co-living at a lower rate than residential, so many of these new proposals will bring in less revenue than could have been the case.
Compare that rate to, say, Lambeth.
Setting a specific lower rate for co-living is unusual. Very few other authorities have done so.
Overall Greenwich’s record for obtaining funding is not the best through setting low CIL rates in 2015, failing to revise in 2018 as previously committed to do three years prior then when they finally do so (six years late) opting for low rates on the two biggest sectors of development growth.
As least we might now see some progress on the site now. Hopefully the building will be demolished and construction startedlp on the site in the very near future. Too many sites and empty buildings are being left empty for far too long.. while many of
the any empty buildings are falling in to a state of disrepair.
Great news, the current building is a bit of an eyesore. Such a prominent site deserves something better. Hopefully, as Graham says, work will start soon.
I wonder how, or if, this will affect the landscaping plan for around the new market pavilion. It seems wasteful to landscape up to the side of the building for it all to be dug up soon.