Agenda item

Use of part ground and basement to office accommodation (Class B1) and relocation and expansion of the retail (Class A1) from St George Street to the corner of Hanover Square and St George Street and external alterations to façade.

The presenting officer tabled the following revised recommendation:

“REVISED RECOMMENDATION:

Grant conditional permission

(Conditions to be agreed in consultation with the Chairman)

Reasons for the amended recommendation:

Subsequent to the publication of the officers’ report on this agenda the applicant, Conde Nast, has provided further information in support of their application for the change of use of this bank to offices for their own use.

Conde Nast is a highly successful publishing house of international renown, under which magazines such as Vogue, Vanity Fair, Tatler, House & Garden, GQ and others are published.  Their continuing success is such that they are in need of additional floorspace, which is the purpose of their planning application.  In recent years Conde Nast has found acquiring additional accommodation of the right type and quality difficult, and is now in several other locations, including two which are outside of the West End in Camden and elsewhere. 

It is well known that there has been a recent trend for the conversion of offices for residential purposes in the West End which has seen a significant overall reduction in West End office supply and, consequently, the City Council has recently introduced planning policy changes to address this issue.  Revisions to the Westminster City Plan mixed use policy were adopted in July 2016 which reduce the amount of residential floorsapce required in mixed use developments and are therefore more favourable to wholly office schemes.  It will however take time before this policy approach realises its aim which is to redress the imbalance caused by the recent short term reduction in West End office accommodation.

In the meantime some office occupiers may find it difficult to find new or additional accommodation until the normal office supply and demand adjusts to the new policy.  During this period some offices may through necessity be tempted to seek office accommodation outside of the West End, and whilst at no point have Conde Nast threatened to do this it is possible that since they already have offices elsewhere relocation may be attractive option for them in the future should they continue to have a pressing need that cannot be satisfied at the application site.

The headquarters of internationally important businesses such as Conde Nast are recognised as being an intrinsic part of the the Central Activities Zone, contributing significantly to its essential character. In these circumstances, officers consider that there could be sufficient justification to set aside the normal policy considerations which aim to protect this bank premises in order to allow Code Nast to expand into the ground floor of the building they occupy.  It is considered that the consolidation of Conde Nast’s presence in the West End achieved by this would outweigh the loss of the bank. Although service uses such as banks are themselves important to character and function in this location, the loss of this bank would not deprive the area of a scarce resource since there are many other banks within a short distance of the application site, including within Hanover Square itself.

In these circumstances it is considered that planning permission should be granted.”

RESOLVED

That permission be granted subject to conditions to be settled under delegated powers.