There was an interesting bit in Private Eye about the redevelopment a few months ago.
Apparently a common pattern for listed buildings on valuable land is for the owners to hire developers who get planning permission to take down the listed parts, restore them, then put them up again. Then after taking down the listed parts the developer "unexpectedly" goes bankrupt, leaving the owners with valuable land no longer encumbered by a listed building.
But in the case of Battersea Power Station, when developers applied to take down all four towers at the same time, planners only granted permission for them do to one tower at a time, preventing such an "accident" from happening. Private Eye considered this a rare and impressive show of wisdom on planners' part.
London has many many planning problems but the architecture around the River Thames I always find to be pretty awesome...so many amazing buildings to look at when on a run...Glad to see they were careful with the permission this time.
One of my favorite albums of all time. I would be really weirded out if that was the building I went to work in every day. It's a pretty dark and melancholy album. I only like listening to it or thinking about it when embracing that mood. :)
This is brilliant news! It's one of those iconic London buildings. You'll see it on approach to London to Victoria station, it's clearly visible from the London eye, and as the other commenter noted it's on the cover of that pink floyd album. It's use and renovation has been mooted for years but presumably it's always been held up because it's both a listed building and will be very expensive to renovate due to old hazardous materials and the like. It would take a company with Apple's cash to do this and I'm delighted to see it finally happening.
The renovation has been underway for years now. Apple are simply taking out a lease on some of the new office space.
I love the building but the surrounding area is ground zero for grotesque property speculation in London. Recently it looked like the developers had overplayed their hand and wouldn't be able to shift all the £1M+ flats - but now with a bunch of Apple devs looking to rent them out, who knows?
The wider redevelopment has nothing to do with Apple.
The scheme got planning permission in 2011, and construction work has been ongoing since 2012.
It's a mixed-use development, with office space only part of the puzzle, and according to this article, Apple are only taking a lease on 40% of the office space.
I suspect Apple have negotiated hugely preferential rates on said space (as well as structuring the deal so as to pay the bare minimum in taxes, etc.), and the developers have agreed solely because having Apple move in is incredible PR.
It's been held up because the numbers didn't work and there were numerous false starts - partly because the market for high-end flats is bubbly, and partly because the area has relatively poor transport links.
Apple is leasing new offices, not organising the work directly.
Work has started on a Northern Line extension to the area, which should open in 2020. That will make flats and offices more valuable, because they'll be on the end of a (relatively) easy commute to central London.
Currently the nearest tube is a significant walk away, which isn't very fun in a London winter.
"Perfection of planning is a symptom of decay. During a period of exciting discovery or progress, there is no time to plan the perfect headquarters."
C.N. Parkinson
[+] [-] michaelt|9 years ago|reply
Apparently a common pattern for listed buildings on valuable land is for the owners to hire developers who get planning permission to take down the listed parts, restore them, then put them up again. Then after taking down the listed parts the developer "unexpectedly" goes bankrupt, leaving the owners with valuable land no longer encumbered by a listed building.
But in the case of Battersea Power Station, when developers applied to take down all four towers at the same time, planners only granted permission for them do to one tower at a time, preventing such an "accident" from happening. Private Eye considered this a rare and impressive show of wisdom on planners' part.
[+] [-] secfirstmd|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] roflchoppa|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] sambeau|9 years ago|reply
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animals_(Pink_Floyd_album)
[+] [-] WatchDog|9 years ago|reply
http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/cnc/images/6/6c/Bombing_...
[+] [-] RockyMcNuts|9 years ago|reply
https://www.theguardian.com/cities/gallery/2016/jun/22/monty...
[+] [-] anexprogrammer|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jzl|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jhpankow|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] twostoned|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ricksplat|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] adwhit|9 years ago|reply
I love the building but the surrounding area is ground zero for grotesque property speculation in London. Recently it looked like the developers had overplayed their hand and wouldn't be able to shift all the £1M+ flats - but now with a bunch of Apple devs looking to rent them out, who knows?
[+] [-] _9MOTHER9HORSE|9 years ago|reply
The scheme got planning permission in 2011, and construction work has been ongoing since 2012.
It's a mixed-use development, with office space only part of the puzzle, and according to this article, Apple are only taking a lease on 40% of the office space.
I suspect Apple have negotiated hugely preferential rates on said space (as well as structuring the deal so as to pay the bare minimum in taxes, etc.), and the developers have agreed solely because having Apple move in is incredible PR.
[+] [-] TheOtherHobbes|9 years ago|reply
Apple is leasing new offices, not organising the work directly.
Work has started on a Northern Line extension to the area, which should open in 2020. That will make flats and offices more valuable, because they'll be on the end of a (relatively) easy commute to central London.
Currently the nearest tube is a significant walk away, which isn't very fun in a London winter.
[+] [-] walrus01|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] thorin|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] philwelch|9 years ago|reply
[+] [-] yakster|9 years ago|reply