The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, today marked a major milestone in the regeneration of Elephant and Castle as he officially launched the start of construction at ‘One the Elephant’, a key part of the £3bn transformation of the area.
The Mayor, working with Southwark Council, successfully brought forward the regeneration of the area alongside Transport for London, and developer Lend Lease, after the development came perilously close to collapse in 2009.
Work has now begun on the site, which when complete, will be home to a 37 storey residential tower containing 284 new homes, retail and business space as well as an adjacent four storey pavilion and park. The development has also made possible a brand new community leisure centre next to the site, with a six lane 25 metre swimming pool, gym, café and crèche.
Working together, the Mayor and Southwark Council are overseeing a £3 billion transformation of the Elephant and Castle area, the southern gateway to central London, which will see around 5,000 new homes delivered, 1650 of them affordable. The plans, including an overhaul of the transport interchange and the creation of more open spaces, will also create around 5,000 new jobs.
Feeding into a £140 million fund, made up of contributions from the Mayor, Transport for London, and Southwark Council, the development will contribute £2.6 million towards local transport improvements for pedestrians, cyclists and motorists. These include a new Northern Line ticket hall at Elephant and Castle station doubling capacity, with escalators and step free access, a reconfigured northern roundabout to transform the urban realm with a new peninsular next to the shopping centre with seating, exhibition and performance space, and a new road layout to radically enhance the layout for cyclists by 2016.
The Mayor's visit to One the Elephant comes the day after he announced the preferred developer for the adjacent Newington Butts site, land owned by the Greater London Authority and part of a wider programme of land being released worth £3.2 billion to London’s economy, in a ground breaking deal that will see institutional investment used, for the first time in the UK, to build a large-scale residential rental development.
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: "The transformation of Elephant and Castle is continuing apace, bringing thousands of much needed jobs and homes to this important part of the capital. Developments like this at One the Elephant, and next door on the Newington Butts site, are just the beginning, bringing quality homes into the area and helping to rejuvenate the high street. Alongside the improvements to transport links we're seeing the start of a real renaissance for the area."
Cllr Peter John, Leader of Southwark Council, said: "We are delighted to welcome the Mayor of London to Elephant and Castle to see the huge amount of work that is going on to regenerate the area. There is now great momentum behind the changes, with more than 500 new homes and the leisure centre already under construction, and the demolition of the Heygate just around the corner.
"We've been working towards this for such a long time with our development partners Lend Lease, and it's great to see all the key players like the GLA and TfL coming together to transform the Elephant & Castle into a fantastic place to live, work and visit."
One The Elephant is part of the £1.5bn Lend Lease project at Elephant and Castle which includes the redevelopment of the Heygate Estate. Overall, they will deliver around 2,500 homes and more than 6,000 jobs. The first new homes at One The Elephant are expected to be completed in the autumn of 2015.
Pascal Mittermaier, Lend Lease’s Project Director, said: “"Sustainability is at the heart of the Elephant & Castle regeneration: high energy efficient homes, a strong focus on walking, cycling, and public transport across the estate and the surrounding areas, working to heal and restore the biodiversity in the area, as well as many new jobs. Lend Lease will set the benchmark for urban regeneration to make this part of central London one of the best places to live in the capital.”
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Notes to editors
- The proposed scheme at Elephant & Castle is part of the wider regeneration of Elephant and Castle. The result will be an engaging and vibrant public space which will provide a setting to showcase the local community. The peninsula will include exhibition and performance space and also generous areas for seating.
- Planning permission for ‘One the Elephant’ was agreed in late 2012 and is brought forward by Lend Lease in partnership with Southwark Council and designed by Michael Squire Architects.
- The Mayor is committed to directing significant TfL funding towards enhancing both the tube station and the gyratory, to make the area a more pedestrian and cycle friendly place and to support Southwark and Lend Lease in their aspirations to return the Elephant and Castle into a desirable place to live and work. In June he secured a long-term funding settlement with the Government to support investment until the end of the decade into major transport infrastructure across the capital that will deliver economic growth, homes and jobs. That funding package will enable the delivery of a series of vital transport projects which the Mayor has called for to support regeneration and jobs.
- A £140m funding package of transport improvements at Elephant and Castle has been secured as follows:
- £70m TfL Growth fund
- £50m CIL / S106 in the E&C OA
- £15m LB Southwark CIL (outside of the OA)
- £5m GLA Business rate growth
- The Mayor’s Transport Growth Fund has made a significant contribution to this package, to help unblock the development potential of this important priority growth location. The main deliverables will be:
- A new Northern Line Ticket hall with escalators and step free access by 2019/20
- A reconfigured northern roundabout with a peninsular next to the shopping centre and two way working on the remainder of the roundabout by 2016
- The new road layout will radically enhance the layout for cyclists by 2016