Major Chiswick High Road development purchased from Lendlease

Empire House frontage onto Chiswick High Road from Lend Lease design

Great Marlborough Estates has acquired Empire House, the vacant office building overlooking Chiswick High Road from Lendlease.

The new owner appears set to press ahead with Lendlease’s existing scheme which has been approved by Hounslow Council. They have told ChiswickW4.com that, although there is no set timetable for the work at the moment, they will be on the site in the next few weeks. The area around the scheme has gone into a decline while the development has been delayed with complaints of empty shops, flytipping and littering.

They have already submitted a series of revisions to the original application prior to the purchase of the one acre site. These include amending the original scheme to give more outdoor space to the housing in line with changing consumer requirements since the beginning of the pandemic.

As per the original scheme a total of 137 new homes will be built. At Essex Place, which sits behind Chiswick High Road, there will be 46 apartments and four townhouses, with a further 21 apartments developed at the corner of Essex Place and Acton Lane.

Great Marlborough Estates, founded by Grant Lipton and Dean Clifford, is behind more than £1.5bn of residential development across London.

The company was the development advisor behind the restoration of John Nash’s Regents Crescent, Regents Park into 67 luxury apartments and nine mews houses, as well as recently securing planning permission for the Zaha Hadid-designed skyscrapers overlooking Vauxhall station that will provide a mix of new housing, public realm and workspace and also a hotel.

JLL advised Great Marlborough Estates on the acquisition. Knight Frank advised Lendlease.

Lend Lease's plan for Essex Place

Grant Lipton, co-founder of Great Marlborough Estates, and son of Sir Stuart Lipton, said, “Acquiring this site in Chiswick marks a significant milestone for Great Marlborough Estates, further expanding our portfolio across London. Alongside providing high quality, well designed new homes, the redevelopment of Empire House will further enhance Chiswick High Road and open up new opportunities for the local area providing a great place for those who live, work and visit Chiswick.”

Pete Ladhams, managing director at Assael Architecture, said, “The redevelopment of this site presents a rare opportunity to reimagine and reinvigorate this part of Chiswick in a way that adds to the existing heritage and green space. We have enjoyed working with Great Marlborough Estates to repurpose the existing building to create a unique residential neighbourhood and a destination fronting on to Chiswick High Road. Our design has sought to remain contemporary, but sympathetic to the heritage and character situated on the bustling High Road and tranquillity of Turnham Green.”

September 17, 2020