City & West End Developments has been named as preferred bidder for the first phase of the Crown Estate’s £500m Quadrant redevelopment on Regent Street.
The first phase will involve the redevelopment of the 90,000 sq ft Block W1, between 83-97 Regent Street, Swallow Street and Vine Street. The redevelopment will comprise retail on the ground floor, offices above and upmarket flats at the top.
The existing listed facades on Regent Street will be retained, and new shops will line the east side of Swallow Street, which is currently just unused frontage.
City & West End will be development manager on the scheme but will not hold an equity stake in the project. This phase of development is expected to take place between 2004 and 2006.
The Quadrant scheme will also involve the redevelopment of three other blocks surrounding Regent Street, two of which will be developed in conjunction with Greycoat Estates and another with Stanhope.
The Café Royal block, where the north side of Regent Street meets Piccadilly Circus, will be converted into a five-star hotel. Much of the Café Royal’s spectacular interior will be retained, and it will have a top-floor bar with views over the West End. The lower levels of the block will have shops facing onto Regent Street. The redevelopment will total 200,000 sq ft and work is expected to occur between 2006 and 2009.
The Regent Palace Hotel on Glasshouse Street will be demolished and replaced with a 270,000 sq ft mixed use development, with retail on the lower floors and offices above. The redevelopment of the block, which lies between Glasshouse Street, Brewer Street, Air Street and Sherwood Street, is also expected to take place between 2006 and 2009.
Finally, the 115,000 sq ft Quadrant House between Regent Street, Air Street and Glasshouse Street will be refurbished. There will be retail space on the ground, basement and first floors, with offices above. In addition, a smaller refurbished office building will be built on the corner of Regent Street and Air Street. Refurbishment work on Quadrant House will commence in 2007. The adjacent Quadrant Arcade will be retained.
The Eastern end of Glasshouse Street will be closed to traffic, and the street will be covered with a glass roof, in order to increase the number of pedestrians walking through the Quadrant Arcade.
A planning application was submitted for the Block W1 site at the end of January but no date for a committee hearing has yet been set. Neither the Crown Estate nor City & West End would comment, but a deal is expected to be signed by next week.
GVA Saxon Law is advising City & West End. CB Richard Ellis is acting for the Crown Estate.
www.efreeman.co.uk
Source: Freeman / Property Week
