Construction of the £2Bn New Covent Garden Market development is hoped to get under way next year after joint developers Vinci and St Modwen Properties (VSM) and the market owners submitted a planning application to Wandsworth London Borough Council.
The five year redevelopment of the 57 acre (23 hectare) site at Nine Elms in South London will be part funded by the government owned Covent Garden Market Authority (CGMA) releasing land to the developers for house building and other development. The market has been on this site – formerly the Nine Elms Locomotive Works - since 1974, after moving from Covent Garden in central London.
Vinci and St Modwen signed a contract with the CGMA last year for the regeneration scheme that is billed as the gateway to the giant Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea Opportunity Area that includes the Battersea Power Station redevelopment.
The development will take place in stages with construction work to include 550,000 sq ft of warehouse and retail spaces for the 200 businesses currently housed in the famous fruit, vegetable and flower market. Some 20 acres of land will be used for construction of a residential led mixed use regeneration scheme, with 3,000 homes, 135,000 sq ft of offices and 100,000 sq ft of retail and leisure development.
St Modwen Chief Executive Bill Oliver said: “This latest milestone is a hugely important step forward for this vital and complex regeneration project which will act as the gateway to the Vauxhall, Nine Elms and Battersea Opportunity Area.
“Over the last 12 months, VSM has worked closely with CGMA and the market community, as well as key stakeholders, to refine these plans and present a world class development that will create construction jobs, attract investment and transform this important part of Nine Elms.
"We are now looking forward to working alongside Wandsworth Council to secure planning approval and, with CGMA, to transform the area into a lively and exciting new quarter for London."
