Steve Hoare
Ashurst Morris Crisp has closed two of London's most important regeneration projects in the space of a week.
The firm has advised developers Chelsfield and Stanhope on the £3.5bn Stratford City regeneration project based around the new Stratford Channel Tunnel Rail Link. Ashursts has also advised Silvertown Quays Ltd on the regeneration of Silvertown, an area west of the capital's City airport, where Europe's largest aquarium will be built.
The Stratford City deal is expected to be Europe's largest regeneration site, creating a new metropolitan site to rival Canary Wharf. The intention is to get planning permission next spring, commencing the regenerative core between 2006 and 2010. This must wait until the digging for the Channel Tunnel Rail Link is completed because the amount of land needed for the link is unpredictable.
Ashursts advised Stratford City Development, a joint venture between longstanding clients Chelsfield and Stanhope, in its agreement with London & Continental Railways, advised by Herbert Smith. CMS Cameron McKenna advised the Department of Transport, but this was an agreement between the developers and London & Continental Railways as the Government already had a separate public private partnership agreement with the railway company.
Chelsfield does not have an exclusive relationship with Ashursts - the firm also uses SJ Berwin for property work. Nevertheless, the developer is a key Ashursts property client, having instructed the firm on the Paddington basin project and the White City development.
The £1bn Silvertown Quays development will be the site for 3,000 homes, hotels, offices, shops and Europe's largest aquarium. The Silvertown Quays consortium, a joint venture between Kajima Urban Development and London & Southern, has reached an agreement with the London Development Agency to redevelop Silvertown Dock. Stephenson Harwood is advising the London Development Agency, which owns the site.
Japanese developer Kajima has already built aquariums in Florida and California. The Silvertown site, planned to be among the top five aquariums in the world, will be run by London Zoo and is designed by Sir Terry Farrell, who also designed the the MI6 headquarters in London.
