Exclusive: Contractor preferred bidder for Kingsgate House scheme ahead of Mace and Sir Robert McAlpine
Lend Lease has been lined up for the £150m job to build Land Securities’ Kingsgate House scheme in London’s Victoria.
The development, at 66-74 Victoria Street, is part of the firm’s 2 million ft2 redevelopment of the area. It is designed by Lynch Architects and involves the demolition of the existing office block and its replacement with two buildings – one commercial and the other residential.
Lend Lease has been selected as a preferred bidder for the project, thought to worth around £150m, after beating off competition from Mace and Sir Robert McAlpine. Lend Lease’s win capped a good week for the contractor, after it won the job to build Peel Ports’ £300m deep-water container terminal in Liverpool.
The Kingsgate House project received planning permission from Westminster council in November 2011. It will provide 203,000ft2 of Grade A office space and 102 residential apartments as well as public space bordered by shops and restaurants.
Demolition of the existing building began earlier this year, but Land Securities has yet to set a date to begin construction, only committing at this stage to complete the substructure - including a large basement connecting the two buildings - and to build to ground level.
It is understood the developer has concerns about the viability of the project in the current market, particularly the office scheme, with a decision on how to proceed expected to be made at a Land Securities board meeting next week.
A source said the developer wanted “maximum flexibility” on building out the scheme. “The idea is to get it to a point so when we press the button it can go up very quickly,” he said.
Lend Lease declined to comment.
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