Historic power station site may only be viable for development if cleared

The Battersea Power Station site would be worth an extra £470m if developers were allowed to flatten the iconic structure, research by quantity surveyors EC Harris has found.

The extra income would make the stalled scheme more viable - four successive plans to redevelop the site have failed.

The research, commissioned by Reuters, found that a developer could build 1,200 apartments where the building stands and sell them for an extra £470m.

The latest plan to develop the 38-acre site failed in December last year. The Project by Real Estate Opportunities (REO) and backed by Victor Hwang’s Oriental Property owed £324m to the senior lenders Lloyds and Nama, and £178m to Oriental Property.

“The site has been through four economic cycles and development after development has failed,” Mark Farmer, head of private residential property at EC Harris, told Reuters.

“You have to ask yourself at what point concerns about its heritage are outweighed by what is truly economically viable,” he added.

Developers Berkley, Development Securities and British Land have all been reported as having an interest in buying the site.

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