Park Place (Croydon)
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| Location | London, UK |
|---|---|
| Opening date | Project abandoned |
| Developer | Minerva plc |
| Owner | Minerva plc |
| No. of anchor tenants | 2 |
| Total retail floor area | 1,080,000 sq ft (100,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 4 |
Park Place was a proposed shopping centre which had been expected to open in Croydon, London by 2011. The date was continuously pushed back due to a number of problems between different developers, financial backers and the local council. It has now been cancelled, as other schemes begin progress, such as the extension to Centrale and the possible takeover of the Whitgift Centre by Westfield Group. It was part of the Croydon Vision 2020 re-generation scheme.
Park Place has been proposed by developers Minerva plc and was given planning approval in 2000 by Croydon Council after which the Government Office for London decided not to proceed with a call-in in 2003, despite concerns over traffic and the impact upon existing retail. This decision, ultimately by Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott, caused controversy in 2006 amidst the Cash for Peerages political scandal, when it emerged that two of Minerva's previous and current chairmen, Sir David Garrard and Andrew Rosenfeld, had made major loans to the Labour Party three months before the decision not to call in the planning application. Prescott denied any wrongdoing.
In May 2009, Croydon Council announced that it would be ending the development agreement with Minerva following a realisation that they would not be able to secure funding after Lend Lease pulled out of the project.
Minerva planned to build a shopping centre, office accommodation and bus station on the site of the Allders department store and St George's Walk. The scheduled commencement date for Park Place was originally Autumn 2006. Gap, John Lewis, Habitat and Borders expressed their desire to have a store in the centre, with an Apple Store another potential buyer of a unit. It was intended that the centre when completed would be 1,080,000 sq ft (100,000 m2), with the development adjoining and integrating with the existing Whitgift Centre at its northern end and extend south to Katherine Street. The overall site would have taken in part of Park Street and cross the western end of George Street via a bridge and tunnel with the existing Grade II listed frontages in George Street, as well as the North End facade of Allders to be retained.
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