LREF: East and west London should co-exist in harmony rather than battle it out for occupiers and investment, according to Savills’ director Dominic Grace.
Speaking at this year’s London Real Estate Forum, the agency’s head of London residential was commenting in a session on Earl’s Court, White City and Old Oak entitled “Is west the new east?”
He said: “We have seen a lot of focus out to the east over the last few years. But not to the detriment of the west. There is enough to go around and what this has meant is that the east of London is now in play. Which is good news for the whole city and there should not be any issues between the two.”
Victoria Hills, chief executive of Old Oak & Park Royal Development Corporation, added that there was no concern over the success of this west London megaproject following years of focus on regeneration in east London.
She said: “This will be the only project in the entire country on the Crossrail and the HS2 line. It will not just be a super hub. It will be a hub of hubs.”
Alistair Shaw, developer Stanhope’s managing director of the Television Centre in White City, added: “The most amazing thing about what is happening in west London and at White City specifically is that it is happening so fast. Two-thirds of this scheme will be open by 2019. We have 100m sq ft already occupied. It will happen so quickly and completely transform what was a very gated, shut-off development.”
And Annette Simpson, director of planning and development for Capital & Counties at Earls Court, hinted that the scheme could deliver more commercial and residential space than originally expected.
She said: “There is always the potential and opportunity to go denser.”
