Out-Law News 1 min. read

Westminster resolves to approve altered Marble Arch Tower plans


Westminster Council has resolved to grant planning permission for developer Almacantar's revised plans for the redevelopment of the Marble Arch Tower, at the corner of Oxford Street and Edgware Road in central London.

The Council resolved last June to grant full planning permission for the developer's plans to demolish the existing 22-storey 1960s office building at the site and replace it with two new buildings. Under the approved plans, the new buildings would have been seven and 17 storeys high, respectively, and would have contained 53 apartments, 12,339 square metres of offices, a six-screen cinema and retail space.

Almacantar submitted altered plans to the Council in November, in response to a freeholder's requirement to provide additional office floorspace within the development. The revised plans increased the height of the taller of the new buildings to 18 storeys and introduced an additional 2,118 sq m of office space.

Up to 49 private homes, with between one and eight bedrooms, were proposed in the revised scheme. No on-site affordable housing provision was proposed, but the developer agreed to provide 47 affordable homes at a separate site on Edgware Road.

The proposal included a six-screen cinema to replace the existing five-screen Marble Arch Odeon cinema, 1,456 sq m of retail space, a small bar and two new restaurants. Almacantar also proposed parking sites for 55 cars, storage space for 228 bicycles and a piece of public art consisting of 'coloured leaves on a framework of metal stems'.

The plans were discussed at a meeting of the Council's planning applications committee last night, having been recommended for approval, subject to referral to the mayor of London and the completion of a section 106 agreement, in a planning officer's report.

The report said the increased size of the tower building under the scheme was "somewhat unfortunate", but was considered "acceptable" in the context of a scheme providing "new high quality buildings".

"The new buildings, including the dramatic public art, are considered to be of a high quality design that will be appropriate for these important sites, enhancing the townscape," the report said.

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