• Outdated HQ goes on the market for £250m in biggest shake up of Met estate in over half a century
• Proceeds will be reinvested in cutting-edge mobile technology for frontline staff, modern buildings and more officers on the street
• Planning permission secured for development of new state-of-the-art HQ at the iconic Curtis Green building on Victoria Embankment
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, today unveiled plans to boost investment in frontline policing as he put New Scotland Yard on the market in the biggest shake up of the Met police estate for over 50 years.
The 1960s office block in the heart of Victoria, home to the Met Police HQ since 1967, is being sold by the Mayor’s Office for Policing And Crime (MOPAC) as part of a radical overhaul of the Met estate. It will provide a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reinvest money from dilapidated buildings into frontline policing, creating a lean and high-tech force fit for the challenges of policing in the twenty-first century.
Part of the Mayor’s commitment to deliver a balanced budget for the Met Police and keep police numbers high, the plan to reduce the Met estate by a third has already raised £125m through the sale of 32 under-used and dilapidated buildings.
When completed in 2016 it will save the Met over £60m on annual running costs and leave behind a smaller, more modern estate, which will include a brand new training facility in Hendon and a world-class forensics lab and control centre in Lambeth.
With a guide price of £250m, New Scotland Yard will be marketed as 'Ten Broadway'. No longer fit for modern operational policing purposes, upgrading the 1.7 acre, 600,000 square foot site would cost an estimated £50m.
Instead, the operational HQ of the Met will relocate to the Curtis Green Building on Victoria Embankment, owned by MOPAC and empty since late 2011, in move that will save the Met over £6m a year in running costs - equivalent to 130 bobbies on the beat.
Planning permission to transform this site, near the historic home of the Met, into a modern, slimmed down HQ was granted last month by Westminster Council.
Designed by renowned architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris, Curtis Green will provide a central headquarters hub to meet the policing needs of the capital.
The building will be home to up to 1,000 officers and staff as compared to the 2,500 working out of the current HQ and include public access and event spaces, open-plan offices, an iconic blue line beacon and the trademark revolving sign.
As well as improving facilities, part of the capital raised from the sale of 'Ten Broadway', and other sites, will be used to allow the Met police to invest in cutting-edge mobile technologies including body-worn cameras, secure tablets and smartphones for frontline officers. Mobile technology with integrated apps will allow officers to patrol where and when crime is likely to happen and the ability to file crime reports and witness statements while on patrol will mean more time spent out on the street fighting crime and less behind a desk.
This investment in new technology – as set out in the Mayor’s Police and Crime Plan – is long overdue and is part of the Mayor’s aim to create an effective and efficient Met Police that despite budget cuts, can go on giving Londoners the service they expect while creating the 21st century beat bobbies the capital needs.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “Londoners have backed our drive to put bobbies before buildings and the long-awaited sale of new Scotland Yard building will allow us to boost frontline policing and keep officer numbers high. By turning dilapidated and under-used buildings into high-tech kit we are giving the Met the tools they need to keep driving down crime in the capital, making them more connected to Londoners than ever before and ensuring they are prepared to face the challenges of policing in the 21st century.”
Deputy Mayor for Policing and Crime, Stephen Greenhalgh said: “Investing in new technology is key to more preventative policing, and by selling the old Met HQ and shrinking the estate, we can afford to fund the massive programme we have underway to equip frontline officers with cutting edge technology. By seizing this opportunity to reshape the Met estate not only will we cut costs but we will improve the quality of policing in the capital. The opening of a new modern HQ in under two years will put Scotland Yard back near to the historic home of London’s police force and will mark the next chapter in the Met Police's proud history of serving London.”
Deputy Commissioner Craig Mackey said: "The MPS is focused on providing a more modern, efficient, secure and cost-effective estate, ensuring we remain at the forefront of 21st century policing and getting more officers out on the streets, cutting crime, cutting costs and providing total care for Londoners.
“By selling this building and moving our headquarters to Curtis Green, we are able to make savings to invest in frontline policing, improving the technological capability of the force and develop facilities like a brand new, state of the art police training centre in Hendon. This is a significant and exciting move for us and marks a new era of policing for the MPS."
Jane Bond, Director Metropolitan Police Service Property Services said: “The launch of Ten Broadway on the open market is a significant step in the delivery of the MOPAC / MPS Estate Strategy and its sale will release substantial capital to reinvest into front-line policing. The building is surplus to operational policing requirements and its disposal offers a great development opportunity for London, right in the heart of a new residential district undergoing an exciting transformation.” “Ten Broadway, built in the 1960s as New Scotland Yard, is costly to run and requires significant investment. The capability of Ten Broadway can be much better met through efficiencies at existing buildings across the estate and through the refurbishment of Curtis Green which will continue to provide a central headquarters in Westminster.”
Charles Pinchbeck, Director West End Investment at Jones Lang LaSalle who are handling the sale, said: “Central London is continuing to attract demand from investors around the world. Ten Broadway has tremendous residential and commercial potential and represents an exceptional opportunity for one of the world’s leading developers to deliver a world class scheme and as such is bound to attract strong levels of interest.”
Notes to editors
- The sale of New Scotland Yard is being handled by Jones Lang LaSalle. For images, floor plans and video, including a 360 degree rooftop footage visit https://jll.box.com/s/8ok2pqjkzds7haht23hr
- Scotland Yard as the home of the Metropolitan Police Service has moved several times before – from Whitehall Place to Great Scotland Yard in 1875, to the Norman Shaw building in 1890 and to the current building in 1967. This future move therefore marks a return to nearer its founding location.
- The sale of the current New Scotland Yard will look to generate receipts in excess of £250m to reinvest into estate, against the £123.5m purchase price in 2008 when the previous authority purchased the freehold.
- The Curtis Green Building (1935-40) was designed by William Curtis Green architect as an annex to the former New Scotland Yard (now the Norman Shaw building). It was occupied by the MPS after the Second World War to house the MPS forensics and other technology departments. It became in due course a police station - known popularly by its telephone number of "Whitehall 1212", before in 1985, becoming home to the HQ of MPS Territorial Policing. The building was vacated in late 2011.
- The Estate Strategy, launched last year, is available at www.london.gov.uk/priorities/policing-crime and covers plans for the entire MOPAC estate including police stations, forensic labs, firing ranges, training grounds, horse and dog centres, offices and custody facilities. It draws on the best examples from both the public private sectors for space efficiency and modern working. Combines with investment in new and refurbished buildings, this will ensure the Met has a modern, well equipped and efficient estate suitable for current and future policing.
- When MOPAC began the overhaul of the police estate it was vast and expensive, with almost 500 buildings, costing £203 million a year to run. Since March 2013, 32 under-used sites have been sold and 22 leaseholds terminated. This has already generated £124.5m in capital receipts. Overall up to 200 buildings will be sold by 2016/17 – the vast majority of which have no public access. Each borough in London retains at least one 24/7 police station under these plans and over 100 new contact points have been established to help maintain public access.