Battersea Power Station’s redevelopment deserves its success
(Photo: Call me Fred, Unsplash)
Battersea Power Station stood heartbreakingly derelict for years and years so its renaissance as a residential and commercial redevelopment is likely to win it numerous accolades, the most recent being CoStar Impact’s Top Development of 2023, writes Zah Azeem, Partner at Wimbledon based Chartered Surveyors Scrivener Tibbatts.
In 2013, work to redevelop the 42-acre site surrounding Battersea Power Station began, resulting in its grand opening in October 2022.
George Roberts, Head of UK & Ireland at Cushman & Wakefield was part of the judging panel and described the development as a “globally significant addition to London delivered after multiple failed attempts of others over the last 30 years”.
The annual CoStar Impact Awards celebrates commercial real estate projects with “significant influence” globally.
According to TwinFM here, Battersea Power Station first started generating electricity back in 1933 and supplied a fifth of London’s electricity. It was decommissioned in 1983 and in 2019, PNB and EPF became the long-term commercial asset holders. According to CoStar, 96 per cent of the Power Station’s commercial space was prelet on opening in 2022. In September 2016, Apple agreed a deal to lease 500,000 square feet at the development, then the largest office letting in London’s West End market for 20 years.
Two restored turbine halls house luxury retail, event spaces and a glass elevator. The site has welcomed more than five million visitors and over 20 new shops, eateries and leisure venues since opening.
Residential apartments within the Power Station include Gehry Partner’s Prospect Place, the only residential building in the UK by world-leading architect Frank Gehry, and Koa at Electric Boulevard, comprising 204 studios, one and two-bedroom apartments towards the southern-end of Battersea Roof Gardens.
It achieved £480 million of residential sales in 2022, and a further £1.1 billion worth of properties completed and were handed over as the community grew to over 2,500 residents.
Alex Moss, Director of The Real Estate Research centre, said: “Few sites in the world let alone London could have presented more challenges to a successful outcome than Battersea Power Station. There has been an enormous impact on the area which is now recognised as a specific destination for work, play and rest.”
If you would like to discuss something related to a property valuation, please contact me direct via email at zah@scrivenertibbatts.co.uk or call 020 8947 7040.
