The long-term leaseholder of the old Citibank tower in Lewisham has submitted a planning application to repurpose the vacant tower – also known as Lewisham House – to create around 320 co-living studios.
Leaseholder Lewisham House No.1 Limited (LHN1) says it is aiming to offer living spaces that balance community and privacy in a development providing shared amenities and private areas for work and relaxation.
The scheme would involve sustainably retrofitting the 18-storey 1970s building, which has stood empty on Molesworth Street for several years, to create a new and colourful landmark.
LHN1 says its plans will deliver much needed new homes and help address London’s serious housing shortage.
But LHN1’s proposal does not form part of Landsec’s masterplan for the shopping centre which will be considered by Lewisham council’s strategic planning committee on Thursday 16 October.
Its scheme appears to conflict with LandSec’s plans for the shopping centre which also involve a reworked and renovated Lewisham house.
LandSec said it had spent years working with the community to design its plans, “many elements of which such as the meadow on top of the shopping centre, community-owned music venue, model market re-opening and both covered and uncovered shopping areas were ideas thought-up by local people.
“Our plans will mean the shopping centre stays open. We’ll take it down in stages and replace it with a brand-new centre. All the shops people told us they like will stay, but we’ll be able to create more choice -particularly for eating, drinking and entertainment at night.
“The comprehensive redevelopment includes over 1,700 homes – 20% of which will be a mix of different affordable housing options to rent, including social housing and London Living Rent homes for key workers.”
LHN1 says LandSec’s plans for Lewisham House will be costly as they involve additions to the tower as well as a risky and time-consuming compulsory purchase process which could delay the delivery of some of the homes for several years.
In a statement it said “our scheme complements the wider proposed Landsec masterplan, easing delivery pressures … the masterplan sets an important direction, but it appears that progress, if any, will take time.”
LHN1 says Lewisham council should support the proposals for Lewisham House, which “have been carefully designed to complement the wider masterplan.”
Several schemes (see Murky Depths article) for the conversion of the tower into homes have been put forward over the last decade.