By Sara McConnell
THE FINAL WATER FRONTIER
A forgotten stretch of canal is becoming a network of fabulous waterside homes, says Sara McConnell
Thirty years ago, planners wanted to concrete over Islington?s City Road Basin. Now they have approved a masterplan that has this peaceful stretch of urban water as a centrepiece. Developers are drawing up detailed plans for a scheme of estimated 900 new waterside homes plus shops, restaurants and green spaces, establishing public access to the Basin from City Road for the first time. Covering 2.4 acres in the heart of London, the Basin lies just east of some of Islington?s most desirable canalside Georgian terraces and is a few minutes? walk from the shops and bars of Upper Street.
Also due for a makeover are the unexploited Wenlock and Kingsland Road Basins, tucked behind industrial buildings off busy roads between Islington and Hackney. Long the preserve of houseboat-owners, artists and residents of the pioneering warehouse conversions, this short stretch of canal will almost certainly be transformed within 10 years. So if you are thinking of buying a new waterside home, here is what is planned for Islington and Hackney?s canal Basins.
City Road Basin
Where: It is immediately north of City Road.
Accessible: The area can be reached via a small council owned park that opens out onto a few yards of water.
What?s there now: Angel Waterside, a new development by Grove Manor, is a dramatic glass slope of a building at the northern end of the basin as its junction with the Regent?s Canal.
What?s planned: Islington council approved a masterplan for the Basin earlier this year, and developers are now putting together detailed proposals to put to planners. The plan includes waterfront homes and commercial space for shops, offices and bars. An Access Storage building will be demolished to make way for a piazza linking City Road with the Basin and two towers, one 28 storeys high and the other 35 storeys high, with about 550 homes on the upper storeys. On the west side, Grove Manor Homes is planning to build 84 homes there, of which 21 will be affordable.
For Sale: One three-bedroom and three two-bedroom apartments and a penthouse at Angel Waterside. Prices range from ?369,950-?995,000. Call 020 7354 5224.
Wenlock Basin
Where: Just east of City Road Basin, on the other side of Wharf Road.
Accessible: Only to residents. The 14-strong houseboat community, whose multi coloured boats are visible from the Regent?s Canal towpath, has its own entrance gate, complete with entryphone, in Wharf Road.
What?s there now: Wenlock is the most residentially established of the three Basins. The Art Deco Royle Building on the east side of the Basin, used to be printworks before it was turned into lofts five years ago. The neighbouring Canal Building was converted into spacious ?shell? apartments. More recently, Persimmon Homes has built Union Wharf, a development of loft-style apartments and live/work units.
What?s planned: There is no overall masterplan for City Road, but more developers are moving in and local industries may be fighting a losing battle to stay on the Basin. People moving in now are much less isolated that they used to be, says James Neilson of estate agent Currell. ?The Royle use to be an isolated development at the end of a rough road. It didn?t feel very safe ? it had a bad vibe. Now the whole area is changing and affluent people are moving in.?
Many buyers like being close to space and water but, at the same time, being in the centre of town. Carl Day, a Lloyd?s underwriter, has just bought a two-bedroom warehouse apartment in the Royle Building for ?307,000. ?I wanted an urban space but with decent views, and I have a view over the Basin out of one window. It?s quick to get home after work and, when I do, there?s lots of natural light streaming in.?
For Sale: Apartments in existing developments are coming up for resale. Expect to pay between ?250,000 and ?550,000 for apartments in the Royle Building, and set more aside for doing up kitchens and bathrooms. ?The styles were new to the market when they were built, but lots of people are redecorating them,? says Neilson. Shells in the Canal Building start at about ?700,000. A double-berth houseboat, the Lead balloon, is selling for ?54,950.
KINGSLAND ROAD BASIN
Where: Find it a few yards west of Kingsland Road.
Accessible Only to residents. Visible from the Regent?s Canal towpath when standing on the nearby footbridge.
What?s there now: Developer Investment Group is the major player around the Basin and Kingsland Road. In 2001, it converted Quebec Wharf, a former spice warehouse, into live/work apartments. Developments of the east side of the Basin look on to warehouses, a builder?s yard (which is staying put) and the silo of an old cement works.
What?s planned: Benyon Wharf, an eight-storey complex of 53 liver/work spaces is taking shape at the northern end of the Basin. Across the Kingsland Road, Haggerston Studios has 45 apartments and live/work units. Opposite the Basin, overlooking the Regent?s Canal, industrial buildings in Oarsman Road are set to be redeveloped by Emblem Homes into 71 apartments. Currell?s Matthew Litch says: ?People used to be put off by the fear of drugs and crime, but this are has massive potential. It?s the next area after Islington and London Fields, and an extension of Shoreditch and Hoxton.? More that 500 new homes are available in the area estimates Leitch.
Reproduced by kind permission of Homes & Property, Evening Standard
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