A new bid to turn the former riverside restaurant site into flats

A new developer has taken on the Corney Reach Way site which was formerly home to the Pissarro restaurant. Boutique developer Fruition Properties has plans for a collection of new-build apartments, some with river views.

The development of Pissarro's has been controversial, with freeholder, Gort Investments, failing to get permission in 2014 from Hounslow Council to build seven flats and two three-bedroom townhouses.

Residents had launched a campaign to keep the restaurant building for community purposes as an asset of community value and had objected to the planning application for the residential development.

Fruition Properties, which has acquired seven new sites in the past 12 months, says it is preparing to work closely with Hounslow Council to draw up a revised planning application to be submitted this year.

The acquisition of the 0.24 acre Pissarro site marks Fruition Properties’ first site in Chiswick. The company recently sold its first commercial space – a 5,597 sq ft new build office block in Ravenscourt Park, to The Omni Group.

The company has been involved in new-build and restoration schemes in West and South West London.

Mani Khiroya, Managing Director of Fruition Properties, commented : “This is a highly sought after location and we look forward to delivering revised plans for a high quality residential scheme that will add a new dimension to the area, which already benefits from an attractive riverside location and a strong sense of community.”

Gort Investments had been turned down for planning on the site but had acquired permission to demolish the building. However, this was never carried out.

At the time there were over 152 objections to the proposed development including: loss of the restaurant, no replacement of community facility, a design 'out of keeping' with the surrounding area, that it would impact on neighbours with loss of outlook, privacy, etc, and that it was an inappropriate area for high-density development.

The restaurant closed in 2013 and a previous application to redevelop the restaurant into residential units was turned down in 2014. The RNLI also lost the flat it rented on the premises, and there were a number of failed attempts to encourage restaurateurs to take on the site. The site has been lying idle since then.

Pissarro, which was named in honour of the 'Father of French Impressionism', Camille Pissarro (who painted many local scenes in the 1890s), opened in the late 1990s when it was owned by local investors. The restaurant had a chequered history, and at one stage suffered a serious fire. When it closed management said there was not enough business in that area to make it a commercially viable.

January 18, 2017