Wats-on at Baker Street ? New homes and office space in swish new block
By Adrian Zorzut, Local Democracy Reporter
A major redevelopment project in Baker Street involving a swanky new office block and residential flats is expected to be given the green light.
Westminster City council is urging members to approve the eight-storey commercial and residential build by Derwent Lazari Baker Street GP Ltd, a council report shows.
The project, involving the construction of a huge new building in the famous street, will also need the Mayor of London’s approval.
Derwent Lazari wants to demolish five buildings along Baker Street, Blandford Street and Dorset Street keeping only the four retaining walls of a basement to make way for eight storeys of office and retail space as well as 17 flats, according to an application submitted to Westminster City council.
Office and retail units will run along Baker Street and Blandford Street while the flats will be built on the north-east side of the block to avoid pollution and traffic.
There will also be a communal space dedicated to the spy headquarters used by Britain during the Second World War, which will be run and rented by Baker Street Quarter for a peppercorn rate.
The build is expected to provide enough room for almost 900 full-time office-based jobs, however, none of the space will be let at an affordable rate.
The council also said Derwent Lazari will provide affordable housing off site or provide £3m in financial contributions.
Following feedback from residents associations and the council, Derwent Lazari scaled down the bulk and height of its mammoth project and downscaled the amount of flats available to 17 from 21. The majority of flats will be two to three-bedroom.
The Marylebone Association said despite the changes, the scale and bulk of the proposed buildings gave a ‘sense of enclosure’ for neighbours and would result in the removal of 1930s architecture.
Westminster City council said though the plans would see great change to part of Baker Street and form a substantial building, they also provided ‘less than substantial’ harm to surrounding buildings.
The proposal could see Accurist House, Watson House and a number of suites along Baker Street torn down. This includes 13 maisonettes and the Special Operations Executive at 62-64 Baker Street, which was used for a secret service operation formed in 1940 to support resistance in all enemy-occupied countries during the Second World War.
Westminster City councillors will decide the fate of the project when they meet on August 6.
Pictured top: An aerial CGI of the proposed development along Baker Street (Picture: Allford Hall Monaghan Morris/WCC)
