A planning application for the long-awaited redevelopment of the Elephant and Castle “town centre” scheme has been submitted to the Council.
If approved, the colossal redevelopment would see the demolition of the 1960s Shopping Centre, and London College of Communication (LCC) campus buildings.
In their place, a “significantly improved” shopping centre comprising of cafés, bars and restaurants, as well as office space, a multi-screen cinema, and 500 capacity music venue have been proposed.
Details of the application confirm that 979 one-to-three-bedrooms homes would be created in three residential tower blocks, the tallest of which would be 34-storeys tall, at the south side of the junction. 528 of these new homes would be two-bedroom flats.
The three blocks would also come with public roof terraces, for “recreational” use, with “lounges, shared kitchens and dining space… place to work and fitness centres”.
The application includes provision for 35 per cent of homes to be “discount market rent” which means all but 343 of the homes will offered at open-market prices.
A 36-page “Affordable Housing Statement” within the application states the term “affordable” will cover “discounts” of between fifteen to eighty per cent off market rent. Also that these homes would be made available to households with a total income of £20,000 to £90,000.
A new Northern Line station entrance would be located in the pedestrian peninsula, adjacent to the current London Underground station entrance.
The planning application was made by property consultants DP9, on behalf of Elephant and Castle Properties Ltd, which is owned by Delancey – the company which owns the Shopping Centre.
Residents and councillors who attended the Walworth, Borough and Bankside Community Council in November were shown a presentation of what to expect from the development.
The presentation was led by Kim Humphreys, the former deputy leader of Southwark Council, whose “public affairs for real estate” company Carvil Ventures has been contracted to work on the Elephant and Castle regeneration.
Mr Humphreys told the meeting that Delancey intends to start demolishing the current shopping centre by 2018.
The News has previously reported that several shop owners in the Elephant and Castle Shopping Centre still have long leases that will not expire for years, including the Palatial Leisure Ltd bingo hall and bowling alley, whose lease expires in 2025.
Residents can view the planning documents for the Elephant and Castle regeneration by visiting planbuild.southwark.gov.uk:8190/online-applications and using the planning sort code “16/AP/4458”.