Royal Albert Dock In Billion-Pound Redevelopment Deal

Dean Nicholas
By Dean Nicholas Last edited 139 months ago

Last Updated 30 May 2013

Royal Albert Dock In Billion-Pound Redevelopment Deal
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Will rowing to work become acceptable?
Will rowing to work become acceptable?
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A Chinese developer has signed a £1 billion deal to build a business park at the Royal Albert Dock in east London. ABP China will fund the area's redevelopment into a major business zone, as a base for Asian companies looking for a toehold in Europe.

The site will be masterplanned by Terry Farrell; the above images show how it might look. Named, unimaginatively, Asian Business Port, the 35-acre site will be made up of low-rise office (the proximity of City airport restricting tall buildings) and, according to Boris Johnson, create some 20,000 jobs and be worth some £6 billion to the UK economy. Transport connections should be good: along with the aforementioned airport, by the time the development is fully complete Crossrail will be running from nearby Custom House, and there's also the DLR. Even the cable car might see a bit of traffic.

Allied with new developments such as The Crystal and the putative floating village at Victoria Docks, the business park should help transform an area mainly occupied by uninspiring new housing developments, UEL students and people on their way to the ExCel Centre. Whether it will actually help the people of Newham, one of London's poorest boroughs, is another matter.

The first phase is expected to open in 2017, with the full park completed by 2022.