A triplex penthouse apartment in the Nine Elms area of Battersea, on the south bank of the Thames, is on sale for £50 million — possibly a record price for a location that, until recently, seemed unlikely ever to join the capital’s elite neighbourhoods.The price is based on a gamble that this 200-acre area of former industrial land can be transformed by the arrival of the US Embassy — scheduled for 2017 — and the proposed extension of the Northern Line, a project for which funding is yet to be secured. Nine Elms’ fortunes also depend on the disposal of Battersea power station; the buyers of this 1930s landmark will be required to contribute £200 million to the Northern Line project.
Nevertheless, there is considerable faith that the regeneration will succeed: Terry Farrell, the architect of the Ballymore Embassy Gardens scheme (see below), argues that Nine Elms has the potential to be a “Third City”, ranking only behind the City of London and Westminster. There are plans for several thousand new homes in Nine Elms, ranging from affordable housing to the deluxe. In the final leg of our journey along the south side of the Thames, we profile the key schemes.
Embassy Gardens The staff at the new US Embassy will not have to wander around industrial wasteland on their lunch break thanks to Ballymore. The developer has recently received the go-ahead for a mixed-use scheme that will wrap around the five-acre plot on which the Embassy compound will be built. Ballymore plans to build nearly 2,000 homes (300 of which are affordable), a 100-bed boutique hotel and shops on the 15-acre site. The first building, a 19-storey block with 300 apartments, goes on sale next month; prices start from £349,000.
Riverlight Riverlight, designed by the architect Richard Rogers and developed by St James, part of the Berkeley Group, will have views of Parliament. This development of six steel and glass pavilions (something of a trademark Rogers style in London), to go on sale this year, includes 750 homes in one, two and three-bedroom apartments. There will also be a hotel, restaurants and shops, set in landscaped gardens.
Nine Elms Parkside Nine Elms Parkside, a 13-acre site owned by Royal Mail, is the latest scheme to receive planning permission. This will include 1,800 homes, public and community space, a primary school and several shops.
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The Tower, One St George Wharf This 50-storey building will be the tallest residential tower in London when it is completed in the summer of 2013. Yet this “shimmering column” has attracted very little publicity, as The Shard has dominated the headlines.
The Tower is the last phase of St George Wharf, yet another large mixed-use development. This series of staggered blocks with their butterfly-shaped roofs sits next to Vauxhall Bridge and has attracted considerable publicity, not all of it favourable. But former residents are said to include Chelsea Clinton and Sir John Major.
The Tower’s developer, St George, part of the Berkeley Group, began to market the top 17 floors this month. This “Platinum Collection” of homes includes three penthouses, the most expensive of which is the £50 million triplex. There has been some speculation that a person connected with the US Embassy could be the buyer, although it is unlikely that any US public servant would have this kind of budget. For those who want something smaller and simpler, the starting price for the one-bedroom apartments is £1 million.