British Land says that occupiers from “a range of sectors” are showing interest in moving to the firm’s massive Canada Water development. Building work could start in the second half of 2019 once planning permission is granted.

The developer’s half-year results – published on Wednesday – included a lengthy section on Canada Water which is reproduced below.

Canada Water: A unique redevelopment opportunity in London

Highlights
• 5m sq ft mixed use development scheme
• Master development agreement signed with Southwark Council in May 2018
• Planning application including detailed planning submission on the first three buildings and outline
planning for the whole scheme submitted May 2018
• Valuation up 0.3% to £293m

At Canada Water, we are working with the London Borough of Southwark to deliver a 5m sq ft mixed use scheme,
including 3,000 new homes alongside a mix of commercial, retail and community space. The site benefits from
excellent transport connectivity with Canary Wharf and the West End two and twelve minutes respectively on the
Jubilee line and Shoreditch just ten minutes away by Overground. It covers 53 acres including the dock area,
providing 48 acres of developable land.

We started engaging on our masterplan proposals in 2014 and since then have held over 120 public consultation
and local outreach events. These have attracted over 11,000 people who provided 12,000 comments on our
plans, enabling us to shape a design with strong local appeal. Together with Southwark Council, we have now
committed to a Social Regeneration Charter which will ensure that residents in the borough benefit from the
development.
In May, we submitted our planning application, which included a detailed application on the project’s first three
buildings together covering nearly 580,000 sq ft. Our plans include 265 homes of which 35% will be affordable.
Building A1 will provide both residential and workspace and building A2 will be focused on workspace and a new
leisure centre, with both providing a small amount of retail at ground floor. K1, the third building will be wholly
residential. These buildings are part of a major first phase covering 1.9m sq ft of mixed use space.

The development agreement which we signed in May 2018 sets out the terms of a new headlease, which
consolidates our holdings into a single 500 year headlease with Southwark Council as the Lessor. This structure
effectively aligns the ownership of these assets, with British Land owning 80% and Southwark Council owning
the remaining 20%. Southwark Council will have the opportunity to participate in the development of the
individual plots, up to a maximum of 20% and returns will be pro-rated accordingly. This headlease becomes
effective on the fulfilment of a number of conditions, most importantly achieving outline planning consent for the
whole masterplan and detailed planning consent for the first three buildings.

Subject to planning approvals, construction of the first detailed plots could begin in the second half of 2019.

Potential funding structures will be explored when we have greater visibility on timing, ahead of which, we are
already seeing interest in the space from a range of sectors and discussions are underway on several buildings.

In the meantime, the Printworks has become an established live and electronic music venue, frequently hosting
crowds of up to 5,000. Ticket sales and visitors are now up to 300,000 with 31 shows scheduled for the Autumn
season.

The valuation of Canada Water increased to £293m benefitting from progress made with our planning application
although we continue to incur feasibility costs in relation to the Masterplan.