On 12 December, Richard Blakeway, Deputy Mayor for Housing, Land and Property at the GLA, joined Hadley Mace to celebrate the ‘topping out’ ceremony at Greenwich Square. The event marked the first major construction milestone for the £225 million development, set to transform the former Greenwich District Hospital site by providing 645 new homes.
The ceremony celebrated the construction of the highest point of Block 1 which will provide 121 affordable apartments. The block will also house the ‘Greenwich Centre’, a brand new community facility for the local area that will provide a range of much needed services, including a gymnasium, two swimming pools, library, medical practice as well as flexible space for communal use.
In the centre of the development, a public square has been designed to create a ‘community hub’ which will be surrounded by cafes, shops, restaurants and other amenities. The new homes under this development will range from apartments and maisonettes with balconies, to family-focused terraced houses with landscaped gardens.
Richard Blakeway commented: “The GLA is committed to building more homes for hard working Londoners, setting aside £1 billion funding to support the delivery of 45,000 new homes every year. Greenwich Square is a great example of GLA brownfield land being used to build much needed housing of an excellent quality with fantastic public facilities to boost the local community.”
David Grover, the Chief Operating Officer from Mace Investments commented: “Greenwich Square’s ‘topping out’ ceremony marks a long-awaited investment into East Greenwich. This first construction milestone demonstrates the benefits of public-private consortium and brings regeneration to a significant but under-utilised area of London. I am delighted to see what has been achieved in just over seven months and I am confident that the team will continue to deliver over the next five years.”
Due to launch in March 2014, the affordable homes will be available through L&Q - one of the UK’s largest housing association - and will include 144 shared ownership and 170 social rent homes.
Source: Mace www.macegroup.com 13. December 2013