Hackney poised to buy Tesco scheme

Just a few months ago Hackney Council included a Tesco supermarket site on Morning Lane, E9, in a masterplan for the Hackney Central area. The council had essentially drawn up rough plans, with buildings of five to 15 storeys, with as many as 446 homes and 180,000 sq ft of commercial space, including a new supermarket for the retailer. Ironically, this came seven years after the council refused planning consent from Tesco for a similar, but much smaller, development including a new shop with 134 homes above. In November, EGi wrote about these plans, essentially asking “Can Hackney tempt Tesco back to building?”. In short, the answer was no, with Tesco saying it was in talks with the council over the site’s inclusion in the local authority masterplan, but it had no plans to redevelop the site itself. Since then, however, Tesco has been looking at options that would allow it to keep a supermarket but find a buyer to enable redevelopment to take place. With that in mind, Hackney Council has raced to the front of the queue and is set to buy the site from Tesco and redevelop the project itself. If the deal goes through, the recently completed high-end fashion hub Hackney Walk will develop the land. Situated to the east of the supermarket, the site would essentially become an extension of the retail scheme, which is home to Nike and Ugg among other fashion brands. Council documents confirm: “The driving principle will be fashion, with the aspiration that the fashion industry will increasingly establish itself in this location not only in terms of retailing but also design, administration, training and even possibly light manufacturing. It is envisaged that the site could be developed to provide 565,000 sq ft of new floorspace across the entire site. This will be split up to provide the following: 275,000 sq ft of retail/commercial floor space (10% being affordable workspace); 44,000 sq ft replacement Tesco store and car parking spaces; 245,000 sq ft of residential space (estimated 325 homes at average of 70 sq m per unit).” Mayor of Hackney Philip Glanville said “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for the council to acquire a site like this, so it is important that we carefully consider our options. It is a key development site and will be quickly snapped up by a housing developer if we decide not to go ahead, and we will lose control over what happens to this large plot of land in the middle of Hackney Central. “This is a significant investment, but the benefits to Hackney are just as significant: space for 1,500 jobs, genuinely affordable workspace, at least 50% of the retail jobs prioritised for Hackney residents and on-site affordable homes.” As part of the proposed sale, Tesco would remain on site in a new supermarket and its existing store would remain open until the new one was ready. Steve Rigby, chief property officer at Tesco, said: “Our business started in Hackney and we are proud of our connection to the local area, so we are delighted to be working with the council on this project. We have looked at a number of proposals and held discussions with several parties, but Hackney Council’s proposal aligns best with our aims of releasing value from our property portfolio while enabling regeneration and enhancing the experience for customers.” The decision of whether Hackney Council should acquire the land goes to a cabinet meeting tonight (23 January). • To send feedback, e-mail paul.wellman@estatesgazette.com or tweet @PaulWellman_EG or @estatesgazette