Thursday 1 July 2010
A creative hub as the ‘new heart’ of Hackney
Wick and Fish Island is the driver behind the London Thames Gateway
Development Corporation’s (LTGDC) purchase of land at Hackney Wick
and Fish Island, its Chief Executive Peter Andrews said today.
The seven land plots and buildings purchased
are around Hackney Wick Station and make up over 1.64 acres. Three
are vacant plots to the north and will be used to facilitate access
improvement to the station entrance and neighbouring public
space. The remaining plots that neighbour White Post Lane,
house Victorian warehouse buildings with some in occupation.
Plans to reorganise the sites and occupations are being worked
on.
Previous owners -Paul Kemsley’s Rock Group -
bought the site as part of a larger land portfolio at the height of
the market for residential development. The stalled site was
mothballed and in the hands of administrators.
LTGDC’s vision for Hackney and Fish Island –
an area directly adjacent to the Olympic Park – is for a mixed use
sustainable community offering a unique place to live and work with
improved transport access and superior open space. With a blend of
new workspaces, housing, studios, galleries, cafes and shops
tomorrow’s Hackney Wick would be a high energy, diverse and well
connected district.
The creative hub would provide the environment
to nurture the creative businesses already in place while
attracting and encouraging growth of similar businesses to the
area. As the new heart, development within the Hub would aim to
complement the reuse of existing warehouse buildings and create a
mixed use environment focused around a variety of employment and
supporting uses.
Prospects for creative industry growth in
Hackney Wick and Fish Island are positive. Research by Tom Flemming
Creative Consultancy into options for securing creative businesses
growth in the area cited the spotlight of the London 2012
Olympic Games, the presence of the just under 900,000 sqft
IBC/MPC centre and its lure for high end media companies to
locate and the improving access to the area by road and rail.
Working with the London Development Agency
(LDA) and the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), LTGDC injected £3m
into improving access to and through Hackney Wick. The investment
will see neglected alleyways and paths widened and resurfaced
underpasses and pedestrian bridges improved with new lighting and
CCTV, a new road crossing and public space created, and better
way-finding.
Commenting on the acquisition and the impact
on the area of LTGDC’s investment, Peter Andrews Chief Executive
said:
‘With already established creative businesses
and Olympic Park and IBC/MPC close by, Hackney Wick is more than
capable of emerging from underneath the shadow of the Olympic
stadium to become the next destination for creative industry
creation and growth after the 2012 Games.
‘Our land purchase aims to create the
supporting infrastructure of good transport access and excellent
public space and to speed the successful transition of the area to
create a new district with great character and vibrancy.’