Scheme set to find out whether it has green light or not by first week of December
Michael Gove has delayed a decision for a second time on plans to redevelop ITV’s former South Bank studios.
The communities secretary had been due to make a final call on the controversial demolish and rebuild scheme by tomorrow (6 October) but has now said he will issue his decision on or before 6 December.
A decision had originally been due by 8 August, with the scheme having been called in by Gove’s predecessor Greg Clark last August.
The office led-proposals, drawn up for developers CO-RE and Mitsubishi Estate, would replace ITV’s 24-storey former studio headquarters at 72 Upper Ground with two blocks of 26 and 13 storeys.
The application was approved by both Lambeth council and London mayor Sadiq Khan last year despite hundreds of objections from locals, including Labour MP Florence Eshalomi, and protests from heritage groups including Historic England.
Gove then put the plans on ice before they were called in by Clark and sent to a public inquiry, which wrapped up in January.
Codenamed Project Vista, the scheme at 72 Upper Ground is one of the biggest construction jobs in the capital but has proved controversial due to its scale and location next to the South Bank’s listed buildings, including the grade II*-listed National Theatre and the grade II-listed IBM Building which is being revamped by Multiplex for Stanhope.
Lendlease was appointed to carry out the main construction contract on the scheme just days before Gove’s intervention last spring with McGee set to start demolition work.
The firm pipped Sir Robert McAlpine and Laing O’Rourke to the deal with others working on the job including QS T&T Alinea, landscape architect Grant Associates and engineer Arup.
The plot was bought by Mitsubishi and CO-RE for close to £150m in November 2019.
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