Published: 5 July 2013

By DAN CARRIER

HIGH END property developers Almacantar were celebrating last night (Thursday) after having their controversial plans to turn the iconic Grade-II listed Centrepoint tower in the West End into private housing waved through by Camden Council's planning committee.

Opponents to the scheme included conservationists The 20th Century Society and civic group the Bloomsbury Conservation Area Advisory Committee. A separate social housing block on the current site of The Intrepid Fox site as part of the deal, sparking a further 2,000 objections from regulars at the famed rock and roll pub.

The vicar of the Grade-I listed St Giles church, Bill Jacob, made a passionate speech in front of councillors at the Town Hall claiming the scheme will directly affect his church.

He said: "The Intrepid Fox site is very small and unsuitable for an 11 storey block. It will have an unacceptable impact on a Grade-I listed church. They are trying to squeeze social housing on to an unsuitable site."

He added there was a stark difference between the two buildings being proposed. 

"The residences for affordable housing will not be nice, while the super rich will have amazing views," he said.

The loss of the top three floors of Centrepoint tower to the public – the developer claimed it had to close them off that way or lose so much money on the scheme that it would become unviable – was criticised by the owner of the Paramount Club Pierre Condou, who has run the venue for more than five years,

He told the meeting he had a 30-year lease, employed around 110 people and that more than 200,000 people went up the tower to gaze at the views each year.

Labour Cllr Sue Vincent, who represents the Bloomsbury ward and sits on the planning committee, added the claim that keeping the top floors open would be a security risk was incorrect.

She said: "There are eight lift shafts in the building. It is just not true to say it isn't possible to have public access to the top floors and private flats below."

The Bloomsbury Conservation Area Advisory Committee's chairman Tony Tugnutt added: "We are concerned about the impact of the social housing block being squeezed on to a site so close to St Giles church. Furthermore, we deplore the loss of public access to the top floors. Camden and Westminster will never grant permission for a building of this height ands scale again. It's viewing areas will be lost forever."

Almacantar chief executive Mike Hussey told the committee: “This is an urgent issue. It is the focal point for people coming in to central London and it will be the hub of a revitalised eastern end of Oxford Street. It is not acceptable at the moment. There is a lot of work to do and we have some momentum behind it.”

He said they had looked at various ways to keep the top floors open but the figures did not stack up financially. He said: “We have thought a lot about how to squeeze a quart into a pint pot.”

He added their scheme had the backing of English Heritage and the Design Council. Resident Tim Claud, who lives nearby, also spoke in favour of the scheme. He said residents would happily sacrifice access to the top floors if, in future, there was a new piazza at the foot of the block. The committee voted the designs thorugh on a majority of five to three.

Work will start in 2014 and take two years to complete. 

CENTREPOINT: THE BEST VIEWS IN LONDON IN A LANDMARK BUILDING

IT is hardly surprising property developers Almacantar have taken the plunge and bought Centrepoint for an undisclosed figure, rumoured to be more than £100 million. It fits in with their stated aim of finding landmark building in central London and re-fitting them for wealthy customers.

The company, who also own Marble Arch Tower and CAA House in Holborn, home to the Civil Aviation Authority, was established in 2010. 

They own 75 per cent of Centrepoint, with Frogmore, a private equity company, owning 25 per cent. 

Since it was finished in 1966, the block has been cursed with bad luck. It lay empty for many years with Camden Council planning a compulsory purchase order after it was used by squatters in the 1970s.

But as well as offering perhaps the best views anywhere in London and a striking modernist setting, it is in the centre of an area of the borough that is undergoing huge changes.

The section of New Oxford Street, St Giles and Charing Cross Road has been sorely neglected. Its past is comparable to any of the poorest parts of London. It was once known as The Rookeries and the scene of Hogarth-ian poverty, debauchery and general chaos that prompted architect Nicholas Hawksmoor to build the near-by St George's so the Lord's presence could help.

Now it is booming. Award winning architect Renzo Piano has built the St Giles development opposite with offices – it houses Universal Pictures UK headquarters – and restaurants. Beneath Centrepoint, the new Crossrail station is heading towards completion, while Tottenham Court Road tube station is also undergoing a massive expansion programme.

Finally, at the foot of the building, a new piazza is planned. 

Experts say the value of the flats is set to be comparable with those found in some of central London's swankiest addresses, with one estate agent comparing it's potential to that of One Park Lane, where a penthouse was sold for £135m.

The only surprising thing, opponents say is that Camden Council only managed to squeeze 13 small affordable homes out of a developer set to make a huge profit for building homes for the mega-rich.