With increasing mortgage rates, the outlook for the housing market may be uncertain, but at Westcombe Group we continue to build apace, with several projects completing or being started in the coming months. We’re committed to overhauling listed buildings to make them into the beautiful, modern housing that we need, and the rest of this year will be no different.
We are focused on completing our development at Chancery Lane next month, on which we have already exchanged contracts with a private buyer. The development renovates a Grade II listed building in a prestigious address close to the Royal Courts of Justice and Lincoln’s Inn, at the heart of the legal district. The development will produce 14 boutique apartments, demonstrating yet again how buildings hundreds of years old can be converted for spacious, modern living.
We are releasing the next phase of our development at Kingswood Gate in Northwood, a collection of new and refurbished apartments, next week, following the successful sale of all units in Phase One of the development, with Phase Three being completed in the first quarter of next year. As a mainly new development, Phase Two still retains the classical style which makes our redeveloped listed buildings so sought-after.
Westcombe will be getting “shovels in the ground” on several new projects this year, including the redevelopment of six luxury flats in a Victorian building on High Holborn in September, and a new development at Gerrard’s Cross near Uxbridge, where work on a complex of residential buildings and industrial warehouses will begin in January 2024. We will also start work on eight houses in Thurlow Park.
Looking further ahead, work will start soon on redeveloping the ballroom at St Bernard’s Hospital, the final stage of our conversion of a Grade II Listed building in West Ealing. The redevelopment offers traditional living in a stunning listed building in a remarkably green corner of West London, and we expect to complete this final stage in September 2024.
One of our biggest developments will be opening in October of this year. The Hampton by Hilton Hotel in Old Street, East London, will offer a new, high-quality destination for tourism and business in the heart of one of London’s most popular areas. Crucially, the development maintains our longstanding commitment to maintaining and defending heritage wherever we work.
The hotel is located within the Underwood conservation area. Designated in 1990, the area is made up of a fine group of nineteenth century warehouses and other important historic buildings, such as the Eagle Tavern. Throughout its development we considered how to maintain the varied character of the street and the Victorian industrial character of the wider conservation area.
Alongside our development work, the Westcombe Foundation has continued our charitable endeavours. So far this year we have responded quickly to crises like the earthquake in Turkey and Syria by partnering with Khalsa Aid International to fund their emergency support and meals for those who had lost their homes.
Tackling homelessness is central to our Foundation’s work, focusing on the capital. We supported SPEAR London’s outreach services in Southwest London, as well as funding Centrepoint’s work to help at risk young people live independently and worked closely with Ealing Soup Kitchen to help homeless and vulnerable people in West London. As the year ends and winter approaches, we will continue to focus on helping the homeless here in the UK.
We’re always looking at new opportunities to acquire more properties which we can turn into our next generation of listed homes. And with an economic downturn looking to be on the horizon, we are also identifying substantial acquisitions alongside our development work, including additional residential buildings, hotels and mixed-use schemes.
Planning, however, continues to be a challenge, with a network of different local councils and government regulations meaning that processes are significantly longer and more complex than required. Despite this, as our pipeline demonstrates, the future is bright.
