Showing posts with label Quintain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Quintain. Show all posts

Monday 22 January 2024

Quintain sell off two more Wembley Park Build to Rent blocks - 490 units in all

 

Alameda

 

Beton

490 families renting in Wembley Park will find themselves with a new landlord following Quintain's sale to KKR of two Wembley Park blocks, Alameda and Beton.  However, those tenants who have been complaining about the management of the blocks LINK will be stuck with Quintain Living as KKR have appointed them to manage both the retail and resident elements of both buildings.

The sale is part of Quintain's strategy to sell off blocks to use the cash to finance further building.

Quintain's Press Release

 KKR, a leading global investment firm, today announces the acquisition of two high-quality, purpose Build-to-Rent (BtR) multi-family buildings from Quintain, the developer and asset manager behind Wembley Park, for an undisclosed sum.

Alameda and Beton, completed in 2019 and 2020 respectively, comprise 490 BtR units across two buildings and circa 40,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space. The buildings hold BREEAM “Excellent” and WiredScore “Platinum” ratings.

KKR is making the investment through its European Core+ Real Estate strategy, which invests in high-quality, substantially stabilised assets with medium-term value growth potential. Residential is a thematic priority for KKR’s overall European real estate strategy, given its strong structural growth drivers, including population growth and urbanisation to support greater demand for rental housing. The transaction builds on KKR’s strong Real Estate platform in the UK and across Europe where the team also invests across logistics, industrial and commercial real estate through KKR’s platforms.

As part of the investment, KKR has appointed Quintain to manage both the residential and retail elements of both buildings, marking Quintain’s commitment to manage properties as a third-party manager for investors in BtR through its Quintain Living management platform.

The transaction forms part of Quintain’s wider strategy to dispose of stabilised, early-generation residential assets at Wembley Park, repay debt and to invest in ongoing development, with a focus on BtR, neighbourhood retail and placemaking.

Charles Tutt, Head of UK Real Estate at KKR, commented: “We are pleased to acquire two high-quality assets in Wembley Park, one of London’s most exciting residential neighbourhoods. This investment underscores our conviction that residential real estate will continue to benefit from structural growth drivers. Located within an established submarket with excellent connectivity to Central London, the assets are well positioned to benefit from the favourable dynamics of the London residential market.”

Ian Williamson, Head of Core+ Real Estate in Europe at KKR, added: “This acquisition expands on our European real estate strategy, which includes investing in high-quality residential assets. The Core+ sector is proving to be a strong strategy given its ability to structurally grow in areas where there is an imbalance in supply and demand, particularly as investors seek attractive risk adjusted returns in a dynamic macro-environment. KKR is well positioned in a competitive market given our global track record, the strength of the KKR platform and our sophisticated investment approach.”

James Saunders, Quintain CEO, said: “This deal underlines our commitment to recycling capital from non-core and stabilised assets to re-invest in new homes at Wembley Park, where we have two new buildings underway and on track to be delivered by 2025. We are also delighted that KKR has appointed Quintain Living to continue managing Alameda and Beton. This marks the first step in the roll-out of our Quintain Living management platform to third-party operators.” 

Thursday 12 October 2023

New replacement 'Super GP Surgery' to open in Wembley Park providing space for 16 GPs from March 2024

 

Quintain yesterday announced a new GP ‘super surgery’ to open at the heart of Wembley Park. When operational, it will be the largest NHS GP practice in the borough of Brent, serving up to 25,000 patients.

Quintain said:

The 11,000 sq. ft space will be operated by Wembley Park Medical Centre, relocating from Wembley Park Drive to Humphry Repton Lane close to Olympic Way and Boxpark Wembley, a 10-minute walk from their old premises.

The build will create state-of-the-art general practice medical spaces including two clinical suites, 14 consult exam rooms, four treatment rooms, and an e-consult room. It has been designed with a double height reception and waiting area into the ground floor of the Repton Gardens residential development at the heart of Wembley Park.

The announcement of the NHS super surgery is a significant milestone in the delivery of the Wembley Park neighbourhood, which has been planned from the start to provide all the community facilities everyone needs within easy reach. 

The surgery will be delivered by Quintain as part of the Repton Gardens development, designed by architects The Manser Practice, a team with award-winning experience in the healthcare sector. The surgery will provide enough space for 16 GPs and is set to open to the public from March 2024.

Thursday 14 September 2023

Quintain announce £780m refinancing for ongoing Wembley Park development

 

From Quintain website (present and future buildings) £2.7bn+ has been invested in the site

Quintain Press Release yesterday:

Quintain, the developer behind Wembley Park, announces that it has completed the refinancing of the company’s existing corporate facility and infrastructure loans. The new agreement, totalling £780m, is backed by J.P. Morgan and Cheyne Capital and replaces a previous facility, which was agreed in 2016.

Since breaking ground on Wembley Park nearly 20 years ago, Quintain has completed more than 5,000 homes, invested £2.8bn and continues to grow with two further Build to Rent schemes underway and on track to be delivered in 2025, plus a major new public park. The new agreement with J.P. Morgan and Cheyne Capital will support the ongoing development of Wembley Park in the years ahead.

Clare Morgan, Head of Corporate Finance & Treasury at Quintain, commented:

We’re delighted to have secured a new lending facility with our partners, J.P. Morgan and Cheyne Capital. The new facility consolidates our existing debt exposure and strengthens our balance sheet to ensure a stable platform for ongoing excellence at our Wembley Park site. 

The terms of this new facility reflect our attractive portfolio of stabilised, high quality, Built to Rent residential assets, the quality of our remaining development land, as well as record levels of BtR leasing activity over the past 18 months. Our retail leasing is also going from strength to strength with London Designer Outlet breaking monthly year-on-year trading records for nine consecutive months as we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the outlet centre.

We’re looking forward to working together with our partners at J.P. Morgan and Cheyne Capital to deliver our plans and take Quintain to the next level. With two significant new buildings moving forward at great pace, we are well into our next phase of development at Wembley Park.

Rahul Sule, Head of J.P. Morgan EMEA, APAC Real Estate Finance, commented:

It’s exciting to team up with Quintain and Cheyne Capital on this landmark transaction. The size and complexity of the transaction could not have been addressed without Quintain’s operational expertise and best-in-class track record in managing the Wembley Park project against an unprecedented market backdrop. This is one of the largest refinancings executed in the UK so far this year and highlights J.P. Morgan’s deep expertise in executing large transactions involving multiple parties while providing execution certainty in volatile capital markets.

Arron Taggart, Head of UK Real Estate at Cheyne Capital, concluded:

We are thrilled to continue our partnership with Quintain and to be part of the innovative Wembley Park project which has undoubtedly had a positive impact on London’s housing supply. We have been involved in funding Wembley Park for a number of years now and continue to be impressed by the vision, delivery and quality of the project. Quintain has created a product and community that has been both accretive to the London townscape and will be a lasting legacy – they should be very proud of that achievement.

 

Monday 14 August 2023

Wembley Park 'regeneration v gentrification' revisited 6 years on - do the warnings in this article still hold?


Wembley Matters has been following the development of the Wembley Park 'regeneration' areas for some time. In October 2017 LINK  I published the guest post below which attempted to look forward to the impact of what the author termed 'gentrification' rather than regeneration.  Some might argue that 'gentrification' doesn't fit as very few residents lived in the largely light industrial and warehouse area that were displaced, but it could apply to the wider area with many working class people unable to continue to live here.

Since then we have seen what residents claim is over-development in Alperton, further demolition and building on South Kilburn estate with shrinking green space; masterplan for the Neasden Stations area with high rises on the College of North Wesr London  Dudden Hill site and the light industrial area between Willesden High Road and Dudden Hill; and the huge re-development of the 'one public estate' (comprising Network Homes, NHS NW London, University of Westminster Brent Council) of what will almost be a new town in Northwick Park.

This is the original article with my introduction:

 

There have been many postings on this website about Quintain's Wembley Park 'regeneration' and even more comments, particularly as the development has accelerated recently eating up warehouse and industrial units and apparently squeezing tower blocks into any spare space. In this guest posting Dilan Tulsiani stands back and considers the implications for local people as well as the locality itself.
 

On the 29th of August 2017, Quintain, a property investment and development business, announced via its website that it was ‘spending £1m a day on construction making Wembley Park one of the UK’s biggest construction sites’. According to Quintain, there will be over 8,500 jobs created, with a further 3,000 homes under construction ‘delivered at a pace not seen at any other London development site’. The construction framework consists of six contractors, the notables being: McLaren, Wates, Sisk and Carillion. Quintain have recently shifted their construction policy from ‘build to buy’ to ‘build to rent’. They aim to build over 7,000 new homes, with 5,000 labelled as ‘build to rent’, and a further 2,300 as “affordable”.

 

Quintain and Brent Council have both resisted using the term ‘gentrification’ to describe their partnership in transforming the area. Instead, you’ll see ‘regeneration’ on practically every website or poster promoting the ongoing process. This is understandable, as the critics of any form of gentrification, are quick to label the selective description by property developers as deceptive and dishonest. Technically speaking, regeneration is embedded within the process of gentrification. The Cambridge Dictionary defines regeneration: ‘to improve a place or system, especially by making it more active or successful’. Gentrification is defined as: ‘the process by which a place, especially part of a city, changes from a being poor to being a richer one, where people from a higher social class live’. Wembley Park’s ‘regeneration’ process factually falls under both definitions (for the remainder of this article I will use the term ‘gentrification’ instead of ‘regeneration’, as it is more accurate to my subject matter). Although, to prevent an ethical breakdown, new tenants would probably cling to ‘regeneration’ as an ontological justification for staying in Wembley.

 

Residents who have lived in Brent for more than a decade will remember the industrial abyss that used to exist just a short walk from the station. In this sense, the gleaming metallic towers, illusory designer outlet and newly placed pavement are well relished. However, there are a few fundamental concerns that have simply been swept aside. Firstly, the effect on the surrounding areas. There is no surprise, that most, if not all the flats in Wembley are not “affordable”. In fact, that term is usually used to provoke a narrative of relativity concerning financial status. Quintain has invested £900 million into Wembley Park, without careful consideration and evaluation from the residents of Brent, this could lead to some serious socio-economic disparities. David Fell, a research analyst at Hamptons International states that property prices in HA9 “have risen by 14% in the last year [2016], compared to a London average of 10%.” Just down the road from Wembley Park, a two-bedroom flat is valued around £335,000. A flat of the same size, less than 10 minutes’ walk away, is valued at £450,000 - £500,000. Recently, Alto has sold two-bedroom flats in Wembley Park for £800,000.

 

A similar problem was highlighted in 2014 during gentrification processes in South Kilburn, where a member of the Residents’ Association claimed: “Those who have been living in the area are essentially being driven out. This all amounts to a social cleansing of South Kilburn.” Moreover, Alpha, Gorefield and Canterbury Tenants’ and Residents’ Associations emphasised that the residents who have lived in South Kilburn for generations could no longer afford to live in their homes. These are not trivial or isolated matters. They’re simply the effects of gentrification. Wealth concentrated in one single area in this manner, will have drastic consequences. The surrounding populations will be allowed to use facilities, shops and walk the newly paved streets, but there is a cap on their indulgence of this ideology. Consider what the residents of Chalkhill think when their homes are (literally and metaphorically) overshadowed by the new apartment towers. When they, like so many other communities, have a lack of funding within their own neighbourhoods, along with other serious social issues. To name one, in Brent and Hounslow 34 high-rise buildings failed fire cladding tests issued after the horrendous disaster at Grenfell Tower. In contrast, I think it would be perfectly safe to assume that the newly built apartments in Wembley Park have some of the best fire safety systems available.

 

 Attached to this disparity of wealth is the subsequent problem of crime. There is no doubt that the new properties will have a well-maintained police presence, due to the proximity of the stadium, along with security guards for each building. Due to the disparity, crimes in the surrounding areas may increase. Let’s take some of surrounding areas as examples (take these as approximate averages): From January - August 2017, Alperton has had the average total crime rate of 118/month, Dollis Hill’s average total crime rate was 137/month, and Tokyngton stands at an average of 188/month. Tokyngton is the closest of the three areas to Wembley Park, and in recent years it has had a subsequent increase in total crimes committed. If the investment in selective industries and areas remains or increases in the next decade, there should be no surprise at the increase in crime. This correlation was well represented in gentrification processes in New York, especially Harlem. As living standards get higher, the price of property increases, more people will forcibly turn to crime – both petty and serious. The socio-cultural divide will only widen.

 

One last fundamental issue is an assessment by The FA (for those like myself who are not sport literate: The Football Association). In May 2016, The FA complained that Brent Council was considering those who visit the stadium “an afterthought”. The recent constructions sites, which appear directly outside the stadium, could present potential hazards to fans, according to the FA. In fact, these new apartments would present the highest, and thus the most expensive flats, with their own personalised view of the games below them. Wembley is already set to be overcrowded, yet with ongoing construction, and busy venues/rush hour, there should be an effective policy by the council to counter this.

 

Ultimately, I see no realistic counter-movement to what seems to be an unchecked gentrification process at Wembley. In the next decade, Wembley, just as many other towns in Greater London, will be injected with huge sums of money, none of which will aid ingrained social issues, but will make these issues less noticeable for those living in the newly ‘regenerated’ areas. In the meanwhile, surrounding populations will attempt to readjust and comfort themselves from their high price of living with the luxurious shopping outlets built on the borders between their areas and the ‘newly regenerated Wembley Park’.

 


Friday 28 July 2023

Brent youngsters' design project wins major award


 Edited Press Release

Seen & Heard and its legacy project the Apprenticeship in City Design, a collaboration between the London School of Economic (LSE), Wembley Park developers, Quintain, and the London Borough of Brent, has won the ‘Young people co-creating public spaces’ award at the annual Eurocities Awards.

 

The annual Eurocities Awards recognise cities’ outstanding achievements in improving quality of life for local people, addressing Europe’s challenges at every level.

 

Seen & Heard and the Apprenticeship gave young people aged 16-24 a voice in the design and management of their local public spaces at Wembley Park.The outcome includes Samovar Space, a purpose-built area at the foot of the Olympic Steps and Wembley Stadium, designed for and by young people as part of the Apprenticeship in City Design.

 

The young people in Samovar Space

 

Samovar Space is an inclusive space designed for and by young. The aim was to design a place to ‘just be’. It features dining, shelter and collaborative areas, including a purpose-built platform that will play host to events for young people throughout the year.

 

The engagement with young people sustained over four years and sees young adults aged 16-24, who are often overlooked by conventional development and planning, working with architects and developers to co-create spaces and places that are welcoming for them. 

 

Ricky Burdett, Director, LSE Cities, said:  


It’s rare that the Mayor, a local authority, a developer, a university and a youth group get together to develop a long-term project to engage young people in shaping their environment and to raise the level of understanding of what it means to design and make a public space that really works. This initiative has set new standards for public realm in London. The LSE has been delighted to be involved.

 

Quintain funded the project as part of Brent’s year as the Mayor of London’s Borough of Culture 2020, including six paid opportunities to learn through practice at the LSE. Participants worked with experts on processes and policies for the management of public spaces and are also worked on real-life examples of truly inclusive spaces across Wembley Park. The first of these, Samovar Space, was completed last year, with another, White Horse Square, due to open in 2024.

 

Julian Tollast, Head of Masterplanning and Design, Quintain, added:

 

It is a sad fact that young people are often overlooked when it comes to the built environment. With this in mind, we are extremely proud of the work we have done, and are continuing to do, via Seen & Heard to make Wembley Park and the wider area a more welcoming place for all. To succeed at these awards and represent not only the Borough of Brent but London as well was an honour for all involved.

 

Seen & Heard competed against projects from across Europe for the prize category, including the Overlooked exhibition at Leeds City Museum and Hej! an open and inclusive youth space co-create in Lublin, Poland.

 

About Seen & Heard

Seen and Heard was a Brent 2020, London Borough of Culture project commissioned by Metroland Cultures, delivered by The Blueprint Collective

Tuesday 18 July 2023

Build-to-Rent starts down 80% year-on-year in London as inflation and uncertainty hits capital intensive schemes

 From British Property Federation comes this Press Release with implications for Quintain and others in the Build to Rent market. involved with large capital-intensive schemes.


  • Total number of homes completed and in the pipeline increases 12% year on year to more than 250,000
  • Pipeline boosted by major housebuilders agreeing to deliver a pipeline of over 2,000 homes for rent
  • Construction starts down 55% year-on-year as cost inflation slows delivery of schemes, particularly in London

 

The number of completed Build-to-Rent homes in the UK has increased 13% in the past year to 88,100 units despite market conditions slowing development activity, according to new analysis by the British Property Federation (BPF). 

The research, undertaken in partnership with Savills, shows the total number of Build-to-Rent homes completed, under construction or in the planning pipeline stands at 253,402, up 12% in the past twelve months. Single Family Housing continues to expand strongly with 28,000 units completed or in the pipeline, making up 12% of the Build-to-Rent sector. 

The number of homes under construction increased by 9%, buoyed by major housebuilders agreeing forward funding transactions with investors comprising over 2,000 homes for rent. Meanwhile, the number of new Build-to-Rent homes in the design and planning phase increased 13% to 111,815.

However, build cost inflation and wider economic uncertainty looks set to slowdown delivery with construction starts totalling 5,549 units in the first half of the year, down 55% on the same period in 2022. In London, where high land values mean schemes are typically larger and more capital intensive, construction starts totalled just 836 units, down 80% year-on-year (from 4,415 in H1 2022). 

Ian Fletcher, Policy Director, British Property Federation, said: 

Build-to-Rent is continuing to expand but the sector is not immune to the current economic uncertainty and cost inflation. At the current time it is very challenging to deliver large-scale capital intensive schemes, particularly in London, but there are fewer obstacles to the delivery of smaller developments in regional cities and single-family housing both which continue to grow as a proportion of housing supply in UK cities.

Jacqui Daly, Director, Residential Research and Consultancy, Savills commented:

With interest rates now expected to stay higher for longer demand for new homes for sale is likely to be weaker which will constrain housing delivery. Build-to-Rent will have a key role to play in maintaining overall housing supply, and in the last quarter we have seen examples of major housebuilders agreeing to deliver a pipeline of rented homes, which has boosted the pipeline. The continued diversification of the profile of BtR deliverers is critical to its continued growth.

Thursday 22 June 2023

LETTER: Announcing the 'Decolonising Wembley' project

 Dear Editor,

 

I hope you're doing well - I thought I would reach out to you, hoping that you might be able to support our campaign. I am looking to spread the word about ‘Decolonising Wembley.’

 

This project aims to address the imperial nostalgia among urban professionals involved in the construction of Wembley. Specifically, it involves retroactively renaming the streets and buildings that commemorate the 1924 British Empire Exhibition. We're approaching the 100-year anniversary of the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley where the famous Kings Speech took place - by addressing modern commemorations at Wembley, we hope to raise awareness about the legacy of British imperialism and encourage people to reconsider their relationship with it.

 

There will be a few high-profile public talks that we'll be delivering on this.

 

The figure below highlights the 22 known commemorations of the British Empire Exhibition.

 


 

‘Decolonising Wembley’ is a project aimed at challenging the celebration of British imperialism and the legacy of the 1924 British Empire Exhibition. The project aims to investigate the realities of British imperialism, the raison d’etre of the 1924 British Empire Exhibition, and the nomenclature of assets such as roads, buildings, open spaces, etc. at Wembley, London that commemorate and celebrate this contested event in history.

The project dissects the act of naming a street or building after an event, person, or building as an act of celebration that honours and memorializes the Exhibition’s legacy. Thereby preserving and romanticizing a contested narrative in Wembley’s history for generations to come.

Decolonising Wembley is a collaborative project that brings together academics, historians, activists, and community members – that seek to challenge the imperial nostalgia among urban professionals involved in the construction of Wembley and to promote a more critical understanding of the past. One of the key aspects of the project is the retroactive renaming of streets, open spaces and buildings that commemorate the 1924 British Empire Exhibition. This renaming process is an important step towards acknowledging the complexities of history and the impact of colonialism on the world.

The project also investigates the raison d’etre of the 1924 British Empire Exhibition and its role in promoting British imperialism. This research aims to deepen our understanding of the event and its impact, and to provide a more nuanced perspective on the legacy of British imperialism.

The launch of the Decolonising Wembley project is an important initiative that seeks to challenge the celebration of empire and to promote a more critical understanding of the past.

This is a serious cause of concern, especially as Brent is one of Britain’s most diverse boroughs – British imperialism has caused much strife and pain for our communities, Lord Woolley CBE said it best:


For many, including me, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, to revere about the empire. It means slavery, murder, theft, barbaric cruelty and colonialism. We cannot and must not attempt to erase our history, but we can choose which parts we put on a pedestal.”

 

For more information about the Decolonising Wembley project, please visit our website at www.decolonisingwembley.com and visit the socials @decolonising.wembley

Kind Regards,

 

Nabil Al-Kinani

 

Urbanist // Cultural Producer // Creative Practitioner

 

 

Wednesday 3 May 2023

New 20-storey 770 bed student accomodation block for Wembley Park

 

Greystar Real Estate have acquired a site close to the  still under construction Union Park in Wembley Park from Quintain for an undisclosed sum. It will provide 770 student beds. Coming on top of the news of a new hotel in Olympic Way many may think local housing needs and the need to build community are being sidelined.  As planning consent was granted to Quintain in December 2022 work will start immediately with occupation of the block starting in August 2025.

 

From the Greystone Press Release:

Greystar Real Estate Partners, LLC (“Greystar”), a global leader in the investment, development, and management of high-quality real estate, including rental housing, logistics, and life sciences, has acquired a site at Wembley Park from Quintain on behalf of its pan-European residential fund GEPE I for an undisclosed sum. 


Greystar will build a 20-storey purpose-built student accommodation development on the site comprising 770 beds alongside 7,480 sq. ft. of internal and 9,096 sq. ft. of external amenity space. The well-amenitised scheme has been designed to a BREEAM Excellent rating and features two lounges, gym, screen room, games room, private dining space, communal study area, space for socialising, cycle storage spaces, and external gardens and podiums. 

The site benefits from a 100% market rent PBSA planning consent, with planning permission obtained by Quintain in December 2022, and forms part of the wider Wembley Park regeneration programme. Demolition at the site has been completed and McAleer & Rushe has been appointed as the construction partner. On-site development will begin immediately with first occupancy from September 2025. Greystar intends to operate the asset under the Canvas brand, complementing its existing adjacent 283-bed PBSA site in the Wembley Park area.

Set within the North East Lands development, the site is part of a 12-acre district that will ultimately deliver 2,347 residential units of varying tenures next to the biodiverse seven-acre Union Park. Wembley Park is now an established neighbourhood, and an increasingly popular environment for students to live. The site is ideally located close to the iconic Wembley Stadium and only a four-minute walk to Wembley Park tube station (Jubilee and Metropolitan lines) providing easy access into Central London and its Universities. 

Greystar’s investment reflects the ongoing attractiveness of London, characterised by an acute shortage of high-quality student accommodation – and the capital’s status as the top global capital city for overseas students with its world-class universities and higher education institutions, as well as its rich culture, vibrant entertainment, and unparalleled career opportunities. 

,

Sunday 1 January 2023

An Olympic Games tile mural – let’s get it back on permanent display!

 Guest post by local Historian Philip Grant in a personal capacity

 

On 1 January 2022 I shared with you an open letter that I’d sent to Quintain’s Chief Executive Officer, seeking his agreement that his company would not seek to renew its advertisement consent, covering the tile murals on the walls of Olympic Way. I thought I’d made a good case, and was very pleased to receive a positive response two months later.

 

The sports tile murals on the east wall of Olympic Way, back on display in August 2022.

 

As well as uncovering the American Football, Rugby League and Ice Hockey tile mural scenes in 2022, Quintain’s Wembley Park company also commissioned a new mural. This replaced the missing section of the former “Live Aid” mural, beside the drummer which was the only section left of the original 1993 design. Since it was completed last November, Paul Marks’s “Reverb” mural has been added to the Wembley Park Art Trail.

 

The ”Reverb” tile mural, nearing completion in November 2022.

 

Regular readers will know that Wembley History Society has been campaigning since April 2018 to get Quintain and Brent Council to put all of the Bobby Moore Bridge tile murals, celebrating Wembley’s sports and entertainment heritage, back on permanent public display. Our first success was the mural scene in the subway, showing England footballers playing at the “twin towers” Wembley Stadium, which was left uncovered when Quintain (with Brent Council’s consent) replaced their vinyl advertising sheets in the subway with LED light panels.

 

The “Footballers” mural, flanked by LED light panels.

 

Now, 2023 provides an opportunity to get another of the subway’s mural scenes back on display. As well as marking the centenary of the original Wembley Stadium, the year will also be the 75th anniversary of the 1948 London Olympic Games, for which Olympic Way was built. I hope that it will also see the mural celebrating those Games uncovered, in recognition of that important part of Wembley’s sporting heritage.

 

The Olympic Torch tile mural, beside a photograph from the 1948 Games opening ceremony.

 

So, this New Year I’ve sent another open letter to Quintain’s Chief Executive Officer, James Saunders. This is its full text:

 

This is an open letter

1 January 2023

Dear Mr Saunders, 

 

The 1948 Olympic Torch tile mural at Bobby Moore Bridge, Wembley Park.

 

Happy New Year! 2022 was a good year for Olympic Way, and I am hoping that, with your support, 2023 can be even better.

 

Following my 1 January 2022 letter to you, and your reply of 2 March, it was good to see the three sporting tile mural scenes on the east wall of Olympic Way back on permanent display from August 2022. They have been appreciated and enjoyed by residents and visitors ever since. More recently, the “Reverb” mural by Paul Marks, on the opposite wall beside the original drummer, has brightened up that space, although I must admit to some disappointment that it could not have related more closely with the “Live Aid” stadium concert theme.

 

During 2022, I have continued to work with Quintain’s Wembley Park team on projects to promote the history of Olympic Way. There are several additions to enhance the sharing of that history with visitors nearing completion, but I am writing to suggest another one.

 

In April 2023 we will celebrate the centenary of the original Wembley Stadium, and in July 2023 the 75th anniversary of the 1948 London Olympic Games, for which Olympic Way was built. One of the tile murals in the Bobby Moore Bridge subway, the first scene on the left as you come down the steps from the station, was designed to celebrate that heritage at the start of the famous route to the stadium:-

 


This mural, which depicts an Olympic torch relay runner on his way to the stadium for the opening ceremony of the 1948 Games, with the Olympic flag behind him, is currently hidden behind LED light panels. My suggestion is that this mural scene should be uncovered, and put on display for the 75th anniversary in July 2023 (and hopefully, permanently). 

 

The Olympic Torch mural is next to the “footballers” mural scene, which is already on display, so that it should not be too difficult to extend the lighting “frame” around that scene to include this mural celebrating the 1948 Olympic Games at Wembley Park, once the three or four light panels covering it, and their supports, have been removed.

 

I will email a digital copy of this letter to members of your team at Wembley Park, who I am already in touch with over other local history enhancements for Olympic Way. 

 

I look forward to hearing from you that displaying the Olympic Games mural scene will be another addition to those enhancements by the summer of 2023. Thank you.

 

Yours sincerely,


Philip Grant.

Saturday 22 October 2022

Humphry Repton returns to Wembley Park

 Guest post by local historian Philip Grant

 


 

I wrote about the work of the landscape gardener Humphry Repton in Part 1 of The Wembley Park Story, as part of “local history in lockdown” in May 2020. He turned farmland at Wembley owned by Richard Page, into a landscaped country estate around a house previously called “Wellers”, in 1793. Repton had firm views on what such estates should be called:

 

There is at present no word by which we express that sort of territory adjacent to a country mansion, which being too large for a garden, too wild for pleasure ground, and too neat for a farm, is yet often denied the name of a park, because it is not fed by deer. I generally waive this distinction, and call the wood and lawns, near every house, a park, whether fed by deer, by sheep, or heavy cattle.’

 

That’s how Wembley Park got its name, and it was, as Repton said in a letter to a friend in May 1793, ‘a most beautiful spot near Harrow’

 


Extract from a letter written by Humphry Repton on 6 May 1793. (From a copy at Brent Archives)

 

I don’t know how many times, if ever, Humphry Repton came back to Wembley Park after that, before his death in 1818. But a celebration of his career in 2018 by The Gardens Trust has led to his return this week. 

 

As part of their “Sharing Repton” events, a bust of the famous landscape designer, by the sculptor Hannah Northam, was donated to the Trust by Haddonstone. It was decided to award this as a prize in a competition open to places across the country where Repton had worked – and the winner was … Wembley Park!

 

Last Wednesday afternoon, I was one of a small crowd standing at the corner of Elvin Gardens, beside Humphry Repton Lane. Some of the builders working nearby were giving us puzzled looks, but seemed even more puzzled by a cloaked figure, wearing a Quintain hard hat.

 


 

The mystery figure was revealed when we were joined by the (even more beautifully robed) Deputy Mayor of Brent, Cllr. Orleen Hylton, who unveiled the bust of Humphry Repton.

 


 

As an aside, the pendant on the Deputy Mayor’s chain of office bears the date “1937”, another piece of local history. It was part of the Civic Regalia donated by the local benefactor Titus Barham, the Chairman of the Express Dairies company, when Wembley was made a borough in that year. He was chosen to be Wembley’s first Mayor, but he died just before the borough received its Charter. He left his home in Sudbury, and its beautiful grounds, for the enjoyment of the people of Wembley, and they were opened as Barham Park in January 1938.

 

In her short speech at the unveiling, The Garden Trust’s Head of Operations, Linden Groves, noted that all of Repton’s designs for this part of the Wembley Park estate had now gone, to be replaced by Quintain’s ongoing development. However, she was impressed by the modern landscaping of areas like Elvin Gardens. She emphasised how important green spaces were for the wellbeing of residents, as had been clearly shown during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
 

I hope that Cllr. Hylton will take that message back to her fellow councillors, as well as telling them about Humphry Repton, and the bust of him in the gardens just behind the Civic Centre.

 


The location of the Humphry Repton bust – see lime green arrow. (Image from Google Maps)

 

The site across Humphry Repton Lane from the bust has been built on since the aerial image above, and the block of apartments nearing completion is called Repton Gardens. Quintain originally planned to move the bust to Union Park, when work on that is completed, but its present location seems far more appropriate. I hope you will take the opportunity to go and see “Humphry” when you are in the area!

 


 

If you would like to find out more about Humphry Repton and his work, the London Parks & Gardens Trust has recently published “Repton in London – The Gardens and Landscapes of Humphry Repton (1752-1818) in the London Boroughs”. I will be recommending that Brent Libraries gets at least one copy that can be borrowed, but if you would like your own copy, go to: https://www.londongardenstrust.org/publications/repton.php


Philip Grant.

Wednesday 28 September 2022

Quintain signs its single-largest construction contract to date at £227m to deliver a further 769 homes at Wembley Park

 Quintain Press Release (needless to say the views expressed are Quintain's)

 

  • This fixed cost contract with long term partner John Sisk & Son will deliver two new residential buildings at plots NE02 and NE03 alongside the completion of the first park in Wembley for over 100 years
  • The completion of the two buildings, covering 9,593m in total, is expected in early 2025, with 74% of the homes to be Build to Rent alongside over 100 affordable homes of mixed tenure
  • This landmark contract signing is testament to Quintain’s success at Wembley Park over the past 20 years and continued momentum at the 85-acre site

 

Quintain, the developer behind Wembley Park, has signed its largest construction contract to date, awarding £227m to John Sisk & Son (Sisk) to deliver two new residential buildings and significant public green space at Wembley Park. 

 

The buildings, currently known as NE02 and NE03, will be the first to be delivered at Wembley Park’s North East Lands development, the latest quarter of the 85-acre site to be transformed by the developer. Quintain broke ground at North East Lands, which will deliver a total 2,000 homes, earlier this year as the developer celebrates its 30th anniversary and 20 years at Wembley Park. 

 

The £227m contract between Quintain and Sisk has been agreed at a fixed price. Whilst not uncommon, a fixed price contract committed to by both parties, during a period of high inflation and following the impact of Covid and Brexit, is testament to the exceptional working relationship between the two businesses. This outcome was achieved through early engagement with the wider contractor framework, cultivating transparency and a fair allocation of risk.

 

James Saunders, CEO of Quintain, said: “Whilst the wider economic picture may be one of uncertainty, Quintain is committed to delivering hundreds of new homes for London at the right time and cost. This landmark contract signing is testament to our continued momentum at Wembley Park and our unwavering success at the site for the past 20 years. It gives me great pleasure to bring the North East Lands development forward with Sisk, our long-term construction partner and valued member of our contractor framework.”

 

The commitment to building a further 769 homes at Wembley Park in plots NE02 and NE03, during a period of economic uncertainty, demonstrates Quintain’s confidence in the market and in its Build to Rent product so successfully managed by its Quintain Living team, currently at over 3,000 homes.

 

Ajaz Shafi, COO, UK & Civils, John Sisk & Son, said John Sisk & Son is thrilled to have formally signed contracts with Quintain for both NE02 & NE03 projects. This is the largest contract we have signed to date with Quintain and the first developments at North East lands. Sisk has an 18-year history at Wembley Park with our client, Quintain. Together we have created over 2,000 homes, along with a 365-bed hotel, 660 bed student resident units, 1,000 bay carpark, and over five acres of incredible public realm, with another 817 homes now currently under construction with the signing of this latest contract. This demonstrates our longstanding relationship with Quintain and the dedication of our staff and supply chain partners. We are extremely excited by this next leg of the journey at Wembley with Quintain and look forward to creating this new neighbourhood within Wembley Park.”

 

The homes will be delivered alongside the completion of Union Park, which is to span a full seven acres across Wembley Park, three and a half of which are already complete and open to the public alongside children’s play areas and water features. Union Park is Wembley’s first new significant public green space in over a hundred years and, once complete, will be complemented by community amenities for local residents and the public.

 

This significant construction contract signed between Quintain and Sisk comes after 18 years of successful collaboration between the two businesses at Wembley Park. The commitment to a continued partnership amongst a challenging market is testament to Quintain’s transparent and supportive approach as a client rather than encouraging a race for the lowest price which traditional tendering methods are known to create.

 

Previous projects between Quintain and Sisk have included the site’s flagship Build to Rent development 743-home Canada Gardens, the 472-home Emerald Gardens development, London Designer Outlet, the Hilton London Wembley Hotel and the reconfiguration and refurbishment of the Grade 2 listed Wembley Arena (now the OVO Arena Wembley).