A rival developer hopes to put a spanner in the works of plans to redevelop Lewisham Shopping Centre after it submitted its own proposals for part of the site.
On Thursday, Lewisham councillors are due to make a decision on Landsec’s plans to knock down the 1970s mall and replace it with 1,700 homes in towers of up to 35 storeys and a new shopping centre.
New public spaces, student rooms, co-living spaces, rooftop meadow and a music venue are also planned in a development that it says would take ten years to build.
But a dispute has erupted over the old Citibank tower at the back of the centre. Landsec, which owns the freehold, wants to redevelop the long-closed office block into flats, but the Guernsey-based firm that holds a 900-year lease on the building – Lewisham House No 1 Ltd (LHN1) – has submitted its own plans.
LHN1 insists that it can deliver 319 co-living homes – where amenities such as kitchens are shared – within three to five years, whereas Landsec’s plans would involve Lewisham Council having to serve a compulsory purchase order on the tower before work could start.
It has also cast doubt on whether the shopping centre scheme is financially viable, although Landsec has insisted in its planning application that it sees Lewisham as a “long-term investment”.
Landsec has said that its scheme has been developed with the community and will mean the shopping centre can stay open during the redevelopment.
Citigroup moved to Canary Wharf in 2001, although it retains a data centre across Molesworth Street. The bank held onto Lewisham House until 2015, when it sold its lease to LHN1 for £21.5 million, according to Land Registry records.
Before last week, there had been six applications to turn the tower into housing. The most recent, for 193 flats and submitted in February, was approved on Friday.
Now LHN1 has come back with its plan for co-living units – the seventh application for the site, which it says would be a “new and colourful landmark” for the area. It has also submitted a formal objection to Landsec’s plans.
A spokesperson for Renu, the consultancy representing LHN1, said: “Large, complex schemes like the shopping centre inevitably face challenges with viability, phasing, and financing. Securing planning approval alone does not guarantee delivery and could result in the town centre being sterilised with no development coming forward.
“Our plans involve a high-quality retrofit of this long-vacant landmark building to deliver around 320 professionally managed co-living studios within three to five years, far ahead of the shopping centre timescales.
“Repurposing Lewisham House is a sustainable, low-risk approach. It avoids unnecessary demolition, reduces carbon emissions and waste, preserves the building’s character, and minimises disruption in the town centre.
“With the requirement for Lewisham Council to use their compulsory purchase powers for our site, there is a real risk that the development and delivery of homes in this particular phase of the proposed Landsec masterplan doesn’t come forward for many years.
“Lewisham needs both ambition and action. The shopping centre masterplan sets an important direction, but it appears that progress, if any, will take time.”
Asked about the numerous past schemes, the spokesperson said: “LHN1 have sought to bring forward proposals for the site over the years but have faced a dynamic economic environment over recent years including the Covid-19 pandemic. However, with housing delivery front and centre of local and national political and social priorities, and a stabilising economic context, LHN1 is now able to bring forward and formalise proposals for our co-living scheme via a full planning application which has been submitted to Lewisham Council.”
A Landsec spokesperson told The Greenwich Wire: “We’ve spent years working with the community to design our plans, many elements of which such as the meadow on top of the shopping centre, community-owned music venue, model market re-opening and both covered and uncovered shopping areas were ideas thought-up by local people.
“Our plans will mean the shopping centre stays open. We’ll take it down in stages and replace it with a brand-new centre. All the shops people told us they like will stay, but we’ll be able to create more choice – particularly for eating, drinking and entertainment at night.
“The comprehensive redevelopment also includes over 1,700 homes – 20 per cent of which will be a mix of different affordable housing options to rent, including social housing and London Living Rent homes for key workers.”
Lewisham’s strategic development committee will discuss the Landsec plans on Thursday. LHN1’s plans can be seen at lewishamhouseconsultation.co.uk.
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