Canada Life has agreed to invest more than £38m in the first phase of London’s Abbey Wood regeneration project. Secured after a joint approach by Berkshire Investment Capital and Development Securities the money will be dedicated to the Cross Quarter area of the project.
The majority of the forward funding will be used to build an 81,000sq ft Sainsbury’s supermarket — seen as an anchor for the entire scheme — just north of London’s Abbey Wood station. Site preparation work has already started with the food store completion expected by early summer next year.
The second phase of the £85m regeneration package, which has already received planning approval, involves the construction of 5,000sq ft of office and retail space along with 220 residential apartments; this time closer to Abbey Wood station which, from 2018, becomes the southeast terminus for the Crossrail network.
When completed the 10-acre scheme will also include a 100-bed hotel, new community facilities a public square and additional office accommodation aimed at start-up businesses. Pedestrian routes will also be improved to link shopping and businesses and to a newly created Abbey Wood square.
The former industrial site was acquired in 2011 by the Cross Quarter Partnership, a joint venture between Development Securities, Berkshire Investment Capital, and Gallions Housing Association. Securing the fund was described by Development Securities director, Matthew Weiner, as a “milestone which would allow the partnership to make continued strong progress across the project”.
Weiner stressed the scheme’s success was inextricably bound to the construction and opening of the new rail network. “Abbey Wood is set to significantly benefit from the arrival of Crossrail and our investment here supports our activities in suburban London locations which are well-connected and positioned for growth,” he added.
London’s £15.9bn new east-west rail network has been billed as one of the biggest infrastructure ventures ever undertaken in the UK with Abbey Wood’s dual level Crossrail station becoming a gateway for passengers in South-East London who want to travel to Heathrow Airport in under an hour.
“Our vision is to transform the site, which has been neglected for a number of years, into a high quality and visually attractive shopping, living and working environment that benefits the whole community,” said Steven Glancy, of Berkshire Investment Capital. “We see this as a real opportunity to push regeneration forward in Abbey Wood, and act as a catalyst for further investment.”
Thamesmead and Erith MP, Teresa Pearce, has also backed the regeneration project. “If this development is done properly then it will benefit local business and residents and from the discussions I have had so far with the partnership I am quietly confident that this is good news.”
Already a popular and affluent area, any improvements to Abbey Wood looks set to boost residential capital values by more than 20 per cent, and continue to inflate the capital’s property bubble.
