St James kick starts the creation of 440 new homes in Haringey
Award winning developer St James held a ground breaking ceremony for its latest development, Smithfield Square. This fronts onto Hornsey High Street and will create 440 new homes and a new Sainsbury food store. 168 of the apartments (equivalent to 38%) will be affordable.
The land - a former vehicle depot, coroners court and offices – had long been earmarked for development as part of long-term regeneration plans for the area. St James worked closely with local planners, joint land owners, Haringey Council and Sainsbury’s and undertook extensive consultation with residents in the community, to create a scheme that would complement and enhance the local area.
St James will also be renovating a derelict, locally listed building, Campsbourne Well. This former Victorian pumphouse will be converted and restored to its former glory.
Sean Ellis, the Chairman of St James, said: “We aim to complete the first affordable homes in November 2016 with the private apartments completing slightly later and the scheme should be complete by April 2018. We have designed all the new homes to be tenure blind, so they all share the same external appearance. This scheme is an excellent example of how to work in partnership with the local council planners and other stakeholders, to unlock a derelict brownfield site.”
Mr Ellis continued: “Smithfield Square will bring a selection of new homes across a range of tenures and a significant number of jobs to Hornsey, contributing to the ongoing transformation of this area.”
Speaking at the ground-breaking ceremony, Haringey Council Leader, Cllr Claire Kober said: “It’s fantastic to see work getting underway on this exciting development which will transform the high street and bring much-needed new affordable homes and jobs for local people.
“Together, hundreds of new homes and a landmark supermarket will be central to our ambitious plans for Hornsey and will provide an anchor to unlock vital new investment and visitors to the high street.”
Mayor of Haringey, Cllr Jennifer Mann concludes: “As Mayor I am delighted to see the transformation of this brown field site into an attractive and desirable place to live and to work in Hornsey. I look forward to seeing this site being transformed over the next few years, creating both jobs and new homes”.
Site history
In the 1920s it served as a Bath House for the local community - the façade of which is being retained on site and will be visible from Hornsey high street.
From the 1930s to the 1950s, the site was occupied by Smithfield Refrigeration Works, whose name still graces the wrought ironwork sign at the entrance to Cross Lane. The development takes its name from this company, thought to have made ice or ice cream making equipment.
Campsbourne Well, a former Victorian pumphouseadjacent to the north east site boundary, is to be developed into six new homes by St James.
In the 1950s and 60s the site contained industrial buildings, affordable housing and shops.
It was then occupied by a recycling centre, several derelict structures and large areas of concrete hard standing.
For more details about Smithfield Square, visit smithfieldsquare.co.uk.
