Berkeley and Places for London (Transport for London’s property company) have now completed a land deal which sees Berkeley take ownership of a site within its Royal Arsenal Riverside development in Woolwich.
Berkeley originally provided the site to Crossrail and TfL in 2010 to facilitate the delivery of the Woolwich Elizabeth line station, which was completed in 2022.
The development will be located above the Woolwich Elizabeth line Station and will consist of four buildings arranged around a landscaped podium. This development is the latest in a number of residential and commercial developments along the Elizabeth line that TfL and Places for London have helped to unlock.
The planning consent, which was approved earlier this year, includes 575 homes, of which 35% will be affordable.
There will also be around 6,500 sq ft of commercial space, new public realm, and landscaped amenity space.
The brownfield site has been impacted by a series of significant regulatory and policy changes over the last six years, including changes to Building Regulations, second staircases and other design requirements. These factors led to delays, increased costs and necessitated the resubmission of the original planning application.
Collaborative working between Berkeley, Places for London, the GLA and Royal Borough of Greenwich has enabled the partners to unlock a complex site and deliver a viable, high-quality scheme that will contribute to housing supply, support economic growth and further reinforce Woolwich’s position as a thriving destination on the Elizabeth line corridor. The scheme benefits from a more efficient building design with increased building heights, and a pragmatic level of Section 106 contributions and deliverable obligations.
Rob Perrins, Executive Chair of Berkeley Group, said: “We are extremely grateful to Places for London, the Royal Borough of Greenwich and the GLA for working with us over many years to overcome a series of regulatory challenges. There is still some way to go, but we are very pleased to have reached this milestone, and were very fortunate to have the backing of a genuinely supportive and effective planning authority here in Greenwich.
“At Berkeley we're very proud to be delivering 10% of all new private and affordable homes in London as we regenerate many of the city's most challenging brownfield sites, including Royal Arsenal.”
Susanne Maguire, Head of Property Development at Places for London, said: “We are delighted to have reached this milestone, enabling the delivery of hundreds of new homes, commercial space and more, right above London’s newest railway line. We have worked together for several years to get to this point and it is great that Berkeley will now be able to move ahead and create this new community in the heart of Woolwich, helping address the housing crisis here in London.
“By targeting the delivery of 35 per cent affordable homes, this development will open up opportunities for more people to take their first steps on the housing ladder and getting them into the heart of London in a matter of minutes.”
Berkeley has been working alongside the Royal Borough of Greenwich since 2000 to create Royal Arsenal Riverside. Together they have transformed a previously walled-off and contaminated munitions manufacturing site into a sustainable mixed-use neighbourhood. Approximately 4,000 homes have been completed to date, with the overall development expected to deliver more than 5,000 homes in total.
The regenerated Royal Arsenal supports local employment through the creation of 480,000 sq ft of new commercial, community and cultural space, including the Woolwich Works creative hub. A total of 23 listed buildings have been refurbished and repurposed by Berkeley during the programme.