Two businesses "have unveiled rival plans to build thousands of homes on the last big undeveloped site in London" -- even though neither has ever built a single house, according to Blitz & Allen of the FINANCIAL TIMES.
Cargiant, the car dealership, and EPL club Queens Park Rangers "may not be builders but they have lined up teams of planners, architects and property developers as they try to cash in on the capital’s housing market." The prize "is a semi-industrial site of more than 100 acres called Old Oak Common, in west London." It is London’s "biggest regeneration opportunity since the Olympics." A Crossrail and HS2 superstation the size of Waterloo will help create what Mayor Boris Johnson called "an entirely new city quarter for London." Deputy Mayor Edward Lister has hailed it as "one of the largest and most exciting schemes of its kind in London for decades" and "a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform a vast area, the size of a small London borough."
The QPR team believes its "plan to move out of their 18,000-seat ground in Shepherd’s Bush for a new, multipurpose stadium seating 40,000 on the Old Oak Common site is in tune with the regeneration policies of the mayor and local politicians." Its scheme "promises 24,000 homes and 55,000 jobs in a project they call 'New Queens Park'" -- what QPR Chair Tony Fernandes describes as "much more than just a stadium." Cargiant’s trump card is that "it is already on Old Oak Common, where it employs 700 people and sells 40,000 cars a year, and has been there for 35 years" (FT, 10/21).
