“Croydon is on a journey of
transformation and for the first time in perhaps a generation has started to
get more good publicity than negative publicity” Councillor Newman, CroydonCouncil.
Croydon’s skyline is
dramatically changing and for a town that was seen as a mini Manhattan in the
late 1950’s and early 1960’s when a majority of existing high-rise buildings
were built, the new developments are looking to change the dynamic in Croydon
Town Centre.
It is probably fair to say
that Croydon Town Centre clears out at 5:30pm every evening. However, Westfield’s
experience in London and Stratford is that if you create the environment, the
people who shop there in the daytime and the residents commuting back in the
evening will stay and you can create a vibrant location that people will enjoy
until midnight.
This thinking is at the
heart of the Croydon Partnership, a joint development between Westfield and
Hammersons who plan to spend £1.4bn on the refurbishment and upgrade to the
existing Whitgift Centre in the heart of Croydon. The Whitgift Centre –
originally opened in 1968 – was the largest covered shopping centre in Greater
London until the opening of Westfield London in 2008. Its refurbishment
including what is required today with entertainment, cafes, bars and
restaurants in addition to retail will put the heart back into Central Croydon
and stop it’s clearing out at 5.30pm daily.
There is also the major
re-development around East Croydon station including Ruskin Square to the west
of the station and the large Redrow Homes development, Menta to the east.
Ruskin Square will comprise some 5 Grade A Office Buildings with 1.25m, 625 new
homes and 100,000 sq ft of retail, cafés, bars and restaurants.
There are many other
residential developments such as Saffron Square and The Island and the
refurbishment of former commercial office buildings being converted into
apartments such as Delta Point and St Anne House. This increase of people
residing close to the Whitgift Centre and Ruskin Square will show a substantial
increase in demand for leisure and entertainment facilities.
The potential for Croydon
is enormous as its current population of over 350,000 is forecasted to grow to
over 400,000 in the next five years and according to Robin Dobson from
Hammersons. Croydon has a catchment population of 3.3m and a potential spend of
£17bn and with the West End becoming increasingly unaffordable, Croydon is
uniquely located to become a new retail leisure hub destination for South
London.
Croydon is also developing
as a digital hub and is being promoted as an ideal location for start-ups and
established tech businesses. With an abundance of commercial space available at rent of less than half of those
in Central London and 25% of its population under 16 – it has the ideally
structure to succeed.
All these changes are being
promoted and overseen by Croydon Council and its Planning Department has a
definite strategy of where it is going by placing people and their needs at the
heart of the Development Plan.
Croydon is a very good place to be in at the moment. If you are passionate about construction and would like to be part in any of these exciting projects, you can always contact recruitment agencies like Calco Services that can help you be part of Croydon life.
