Tower Hamlets council decides to grant planning permission for Wood Wharf development (UK)

Canary Wharf Group plc is delighted with Tower Hamlets council decision to grant planning permission for a 6.5mln ft² gross (approx. 604,000 m²)  mixed use development at Wood Wharf. Wood Wharf is the eastern continuation to the existing Canary Wharf district.
The scheme will materially expand Canary Wharf by the addition of 30 new buildings and extend its appeal as a mixed use working and living urban district. Completion of the first phase of this development will coincide with the arrival in 2018 of Crossrail, which will transform transport links across London.
The new Canary Wharf neighbourhood will provide a gross 3.4mln ft² (approx. 316,000 m²) of residential, including 3,100 new homes, ranging from park-side townhouses to outstanding high-rise buildings designed by some of the world’s most renowned architects. The neighbourhood will include a mix of private, intermediate and social housing as well as provide a network of high-quality parks and public squares with around 9 acres of interconnected public spaces, including a kilometre of dock-edge walkways.
This new district will include a variety of commercial offices totalling a gross 2.6mln ft² (approx. 241,000 m²) appealing to a wide range of tenants, but with a focus on the creative media, technology and telecommunications sector.
It also includes a new 420 place primary school, a NHS medical centre, a Community Centre, a hotel and more than 100 new high street shops, restaurants and cafes totaling gross 0.50mln ft² (approx. 46,400 m²)
Sir George Iacobescu, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Canary Wharf Group plc, said: “We are very pleased to have worked in collaboration with Tower Hamlets and the local community in helping to achieve this important planning permission. This major eastern development of Canary Wharf will reinforce the district as one of London’s most vibrant and dynamic mixed-use commercial and residential districts. It will combine new high quality offices aimed at the fast emerging TMT (Technology, Media and Telecommunications) sector; a wide variety of high street shops and restaurants, and a range of new housing opportunities designed around generous newly created public spaces. We expect to be on site in the fourth quarter of 2014, with the first buildings to be occupied as early as the end of 2018.”
The development is expected to create over 17,000 new jobs within the new development alone, with 3,500 of these taken by local residents. It will also continue to place work for local small and medium sized companies through East London Business Place (ELBP). ELBP has already helped to generate £1 billion worth of business for local companies since 1997, building on Canary Wharf Group’s commitment to the community in this dynamic and culturally rich area of London.
Source: CanaryWharfGroupPLC