Office interest in London’s Victoria looks set to boom

A £2 billion makeover of the Victoria area of London looks set to increase opportunities for business looking to own a base in the centre of England’s capital city.

There will always be demand for office space belgravia and Victoria’s other prosperous neighbours but now this often-forgotten area of the capital looks set to raise its own profile in the world of business and residential property.

It is hard to envisage the future during current visits to Victoria but the construction site of today is paving the way for opportunities of the future.

A £2 billion-plus vision

Developer Land Securities is spending £2.2 billion on a major overhaul and experts believe that in just two years Victoria will be a completely different place.

The project involves the redevelopment of three million square foot of Victoria’s office, residential and retail space and includes the creation of four upmarket apartment blocks – the perfect accommodation for the increasing number of city workers set to inhabit office space in the area. One of the blocks is already complete and one is still in the planning stage but overall sales revenue from just three of the buildings’ apartments is expected to hit £650 million.

The area boasts unrivalled transport links, thanks to its coach, Tube and train stations and links to the major London airports, and improvements to its office, retail and residential space can only add to its appeal.

Land Securities believe that at the end of the project Victoria will be able to challenge prestigious locations such as Belgravia, Mayfair and Knightsbridge.

Palace view on offer

The area is also being boosted further by other plans by Northacre, another high-end developer. The company is planning the creation of 69 apartments, which will be housed in a Grade II-listed structure across the road from Buckingham Palace. Northacre’s chief executive, Niccolo Barattieri di San Pietro, says Victoria is the ideal location for development, boasting an unrivalled location, exciting architecture and world-famous local landmarks.

Another major change to Victoria could come about if the Grosvenor Estate succeeds in making its vision of moving the area’s coach station becomes a reality. This would rid the area of a structure described as ‘grimy’ by many and make way for 500 new homes, along with a range of office and retail opportunities.

A new selection of restaurants and shops are already moving into the area as business owners look to cash in on the opportunities created by the redevelopment and the Curzon cinema is one of the new facilities attracting interest in the district.

Newly-built property in Victoria can cost half the price of a similar property in Knightsbridge but this is likely to change in the future as the area’s facilities improve and its popularity increases. Richard Klein, of Knight Frank estate agents, says that by 2018 Victoria properties could well have risen in price by even more than the 20 per cent increase predicted by the company overall for prime property in central London.

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