REO gets approval for Battersea development

INITIAL planning permission has been granted for the long-awaited £5.5 billion (€6.5bn) redevelopment of London’s Battersea Power Station site, which is owned by the London-based subsidiary of Treasury Holdings.

Real Estate Opportunities (REO) – which is controlled by Johnny Ronan and Richard Barrett’s Treasury Holdings – announced yesterday that Wandsworth Council had approved the project, which will see a mix of residential, retail, leisure and office development.

Final approval needs to come from the Mayor of London’s office and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, but both are expected to back the plan.

It is envisaged that the first phase of development at Battersea will begin in 2012, covering residential properties, and the entire project will take up to 13 years to complete.

Battersea has been the largest planning application ever lodged in London – with numerous previous owners, and REO with an initial bid, failing to gain approval. Part of the construction project will include a new tube station on the Northern Line of the London Underground, which will be the first ever privately -funded extension to the city’s underground rail network.

REO has said it is confident of its ability to finance the project – which will create around 15,000 new jobs – and has already attracted significant interest from a range of prospective investors.

The company recently announced that it had successfully restructured loan payment deadlines with various creditors relating to the Battersea asset, which is also set to be spun-off from REO’s main portfolio of assets into a separately-listed business.

REO originally bought the 38- acre site for €595m from the Victor Hwang-owned Oriental Properties in late 2006.

Yesterday, REO director Rob Tincknell said the project would bring “a huge economic windfall to this part of south London”.