Q&A with Development Director Steve Oakes on Hackney Wick Hub
- Projected investment: £45m
New homes: 130
Retail space: 1,596 sq m
Employment space: 6,360
New jobs: 170
Borough partner: LB Hackney & LB Tower Hamlets
What are LTGDC’s plans for Hackney Wick?
A new creative and high-tech hub for east London with over 6,000 square metres of affordable and flexible workspace and up to 130 residential apartments with supporting retail space and café/restaurants set either side of the existing Hackney Wick Station. LTGDC as part of the “Hub” project is working with Network Rail and TfL to initiate important improvements to the station which will see a pedestrian and cycle concourse (through the existing embankment) along with a new ticket hall and step-free access. Making access from north and south to Hackney Wick far more accessible than it is now, these new connections form a part of the new access schemes that open the Olympic Park up to its surrounding, with the two bridges over the Lea Navigation currently under construction.
Why in Hackney Wick?
Situated on the western perimeter of the Olympic Park Hackney Wick has suffered from opportunistic residential development driven by the last decades high land value. These developments have not delivered any benefits for the wider area, and have not provided the opportunity for enhanced culture and creative industry space that the area is crying out for. LTGDC with Hackney Council , wants to exploit this demand, kick starting developments that will provide a step change to the area and provide a much improved vibrancy with a balanced mix of new employment space and residential development. This will start with LTGDC’s scheme on Hackney Wick Station with the potential for the station itself to benefit from £7m of improvements over the next three years.
Is this part of the PM’s Tech City initiative?
Tech City shouldn’t stop at Shoreditch or Dalston. We are providing the foundations for it to continue to spread eastwards through to Hackney Wick. LTGDC is enhancing the business accommodation offer to meet the huge demand for workspace to tech start ups struggling to find space in Shoreditch.
Already home to over 600 cultural and creative industries with a range of businesses aligning with the Tech City initiative, Hackney Wick is a ready-made creative and cultural industries cluster. Sitting between Shoreditch and the IBC/MPC in the Olympic Park there is a natural gradient for creative industry growth to happen here. The Centre for Cities stated that it is “very difficult to create a Cluster if there is not already one that has been created by businesses themselves”. Hackney Wick is a Creative & Cultural Industries (CCI) cluster evidenced by the number of businesses already operating. It’s not just about artists but businesses ranging from architecture to computer games.
How are you going to ensure space is affordable for start up companies?
A range of workspace sizes and types will form part of the LTGDC scheme including rent-a-desk options, shared incubator space and larger units for growing businesses. This provision is vital in terms of creating a vibrant employment hub which will support continued economic growth and investment in Hackney Wick.
Critical to this will be the procurement of a ‘Workspace Operator and Provider’. They will bring experience and specialist skills which will be essential in ensuring that the final space provision, size, rental terms and services meet the business requirement. There are real experts in this area, with sound, well funded, viable business models and LTGDC will attract an operator with a residential partner to ensure the right scheme is delivered.
Do LTGDC’s plans incorporate any residential?
The application includes the development of up to 130 residential units to include a mix of studios, one, two and three bed flats, 1,596 sq m of retail for a convenience store, cafes, bars and restaurants and 1,820 sq m of public open space.
The residential element sits neatly with the CCI element. Being able to offer apartments for market rent and for sale close to their business location is of great benefit. The scheme has a focus on work-live with the residential seen as a supporting element to the scheme, not the driver. Getting the CCI space right is the essential element. Notwithstanding this, the residential contributes hugely to creating a new hub of activity around the station and as other schemes come forward mirroring the Hub concept; it will provide a new focus for the area. Particularly, once the station improvements are realised.
When will this application be decided?
The outline planning application (which will allow for the appointed developer for the CCI element and the residential to do the final designs) will be determined at LTGDC’s Planning Committee on the 9th February with planning consent, including S106 planning agreement, by the end of February 2012. Procurement of a development partner is to begin in February 2012.
What is it about the scheme that should attract private developers?
The ability to phase the scheme will be attractive to private developers. It is also manageable in funding terms, as the scale of the scheme is reasonable and with workspace provider/residential developer partnership, the funding can be shared.
How are LTGDC’s other investment activities making businesses take a second look at Hackney Wick?
LTGDC’s Hub scheme is another part of a focused investment in partnership with Hackney and Tower Hamlets Councils, British Waterways and the London Development Agency. This has addressed public realm improvements – with LTGDC putting some £2.4m to bring about improved access to and through the area. The public realm works are practically complete and have been shortlisted in the London Planning Awards. Our decisive land purchases in the area make us one of the key landholders and therefore fully in the driving seat to bring forward our plans for the Hackney Wick Hub.
People now venture more and more into Hackney Wick. It is no longer an undesirable cul-de-sac and in two year’s time, when it has full access to the Olympic Park, Hackney Wick has the opportunity to be a new and vibrant character area for London.
