LOCATED in one of the most high-profile and important regeneration areas in East London, the London City Island (LCI) development will be home to the English National Ballet (ENB) and English National Ballet School (ENB School) come 2018, adding a different flavour of cultural sophistication to the creative hub. East London is expecting a wave of investment — about £2.5 billion (RM14.68 billion) — that will transform the riverside between Canary Wharf and Royal Docks.
The 12-acre LCI is one of three projects by Eco World Ballymore Holding Co Ltd, a joint venture between Eco World Investment Co Ltd — a private company controlled by Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin, who is a property entrepreneur in Malaysia — and the Ballymore Group, a UK-based developer that specialises in the London property market, particularly in regeneration projects as well as building neighbourhoods, places and communities.
Apart from celebrating its partnership with ENB at the LCI marketing suite in London last Wednesday, Eco World Ballymore also unveiled the newly completed LCI Bridge that links the Leamouth Peninsula — now rebranded as LCI — and Canning Town.
Connectivity
The 80m bridge, which had been on the cards for over a decade, is now open. Designed by Davies Maguire + Whitby, it crosses the River Lea. Works began in August last year for the installation of the prefabricated steel bridge, which is designed to rise vertically to allow boats access upriver.
A vital part of the redevelopment, the LCI Bridge allows residents direct access to the Jubilee line and Docklands Light Railway station at Canning Town. The upcoming Crossrail station at Canary Wharf will also be just 10 minutes away.
Liew says, “With the bridge completed, visitors to the site will experience ease of travel to and from the city, West End, Canary Wharf, the airports and every other major destination in London.”
He adds that things are set to improve further when the upcoming Crossrail station opens, adding immense value to the project and benefiting residents of LCI.
Arts and culture
Eco World Ballymore’s partnership with ENB, which was announced in May, is testimony to the cultural vibrancy and ever-expanding arts scene in East London. The new 69,000 sq ft home of the ballet company and the school will sit in the centre of six surrounding apartment blocks — part of LCI Phase 2 — and will have views of the O2 Arena and Canary Wharf.
Currently based in Jay Mews, South Kensington, the ENB is operating out of a 19th-century building originally designed to be student housing, with two rehearsal studios and small offices on multiple floors. As for the school, it is occupying part of the Carlyle Building in Fulham. Having started out with 12 students and two studios, the ENB School now trains more than 70 students each year in limited space.
According to Ballymore Group chairman and group CEO Sean Mulryan, the partnership with ENB demonstrates a deep commitment to establishing LCI as one of the most exciting new destinations in London.
“We are honoured that the ENB, a truly inspiring artistic institution, has decided to make [LCI] its new permanent home. Recognition for LCI has so far been outstanding and we are confident that this partnership will help us create a very special sense of place — a vibrant, dynamic new neighbourhood with creative innovation at its heart,” he says.
It was in July last year that both the ballet company and the school announced their intention to find a new home. They appointed national commercial property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton to identify opportunities and advise them on the process.
“When I joined the ENB three years ago, my vision was to transform it into the most exciting and creative dance company in the UK, and an intrinsic part of that mission was to have the right building that would enable us to deliver new work, exciting collaboration, and to welcome more people into our organisation,” says ENB and ENB School artistic director Tamara Rojo.
“Our new joint home here at LCI will be transformative for ENB and ENB School, and for the art form in general. It will change the future of our organisation and the way dance is created in the UK. We are really going to create something extraordinary and LCI is going to be the centre of an amazing world.”
The new building is being designed by Glenn Howells Architects and will include a theatre-size studio space, eight large studios for rehearsals and teaching, training facilities including gyms, a modern rehabilitation centre, digital infrastructure, a dedicated music room for the ENB Philharmonic and open spaces for public access to ENB and ENB School archives.
The centrepiece of the new facility will be the rehearsal and development space, which will include a “fly tower” for dress rehearsals with full sets and the orchestra — it requires a 600 sq m space that is 23m high. The rehearsal space is designed for any theatre production use, and not just for dance, and will boast floor-to-ceiling windows that allow passers-by to watch the rehearsals.
According to Eco World International Bhd CEO Datuk Teow Leong Seng, Eco World Ballymore will sponsor the building’s core and shell while the cost of the new fittings will be borne by ENB and ENB School.
“The plan is to turn LCI into a cultural destination, and I am so happy to see that we have succeeded with the ENB relocating here in 2018, along with other interesting designers and artists who will join them,” says Mulryan.
On May 30, the second phase of LCI was launched simultaneously in London and Kuala Lumpur. During the launch, 417 units in two apartment blocks with one to four bedrooms were on offer. With sizes ranging from 400 to 1,400 sq ft, the units were priced at £800 per sq ft on average, and 84% have been taken up. Meanwhile, a third block was launched two weeks ago in Hong Kong and the units were priced at £870 psf on average. Phase 2 has an estimated gross development value of £614 million and will offer 1,145 residential units over six blocks. Construction is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of this year and be completed in 1Q2018.
According to Teow, the current value of LCI is £900 psf on average, compared with £2,500 to £4,000 psf seen downtown.
Liew says Eco World Ballymore plans to unveil more of LCI as well as Embassy Gardens (GDV: £995 million) and Wardian London (GDV: £591 million) in the next six months, and to complete the launch of all three projects in London within two years, starting with a preview of Embassy Gardens Phase 2 next week.
As for Wardian London, its two blocks are scheduled for a September 2015 and March 2016 launch respectively, while the remaining three apartment blocks in LCI Phase 2 will be released in October 2015 and March 2016.
Meanwhile, Eco World International has withdrawn its plan to list as a special-purpose acquisition company — it had planned to raise
RM1.5 billion from the exercise. Instead, it is now seeking a direct listing on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia to raise a higher sum of RM2 billion, with plans to list the company by early next year, says Liew.
“There is a very natural synergy between Ballymore and EcoWorld. Ballymore understands the local demand and we bring in our global marketing expertise and funding sources. We hope that in the longer term, we can do more together to build the Eco World Ballymore brand into one of the best brands in London,” he adds.
The ENB graced last Wednesday’s event with two dance performances — A Room in New York performed by Crystal Costa and James Forbat, and Le Corsaire by Yonah Acosta, Shiori Kase and Cesar Corrales.
This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on July 6 - 12, 2015.
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