London’s Baker Street is set for a major redevelopment as CGIs reveal a huge new building is planned

A major redevelopment project on Baker Street, featuring a swanky new office block and residential flats, is set to get the green light. Westminster City Council is urging members to approve the eight-storey commercial and residential development by Derwent Lazari Baker Street GP Ltd when it meets in early August, a council report has revealed.

The project, which includes the construction of a huge new building on the famous street, also needs the approval of the Mayor of London. Derwent Lazari wants five buildings along the

At Blandford Street and Dorset Street, only the four supporting walls of a basement will be retained to make way for eight floors of office and retail space and 17 apartments, according to an application submitted to Westminster City Council.

Office and retail units will line Baker Street and Blandford Street, while the flats will be built on the north-east side of the block to avoid pollution and traffic. There will also be a communal area dedicated to the spy headquarters used by Britain during WWII, which will be run and rented out by Baker Street Quarter at a peppercorn rate.

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The development is expected to provide enough space for almost 900 full-time office jobs, but none of the space will be rented at an affordable price. Westminster City Council said that while it would support applications that included affordable workspace, it was not essential.

The council also said Derwent Lazari would provide off-site affordable housing or make £3m in financial contributions. The August meeting could bring to an end a process that began in 2020 and saw three iterations of the project submitted to the council.

Following feedback from residents’ associations and the council, Derwent Lazari has reduced the size and height of its massive development and cut the number of apartments available from 21 to 17. Most apartments will have two to three bedrooms, the application shows.

The Marylebone Association said that despite the changes, the scale and size of the proposed buildings gave a “sense of enclosure” to neighbours and would result in the removal of 1930s architecture. Westminster City Council said that while the plans would see a major change to part of Baker Street and create a substantial building, they would also cause “less than substantial” damage to surrounding buildings.

The council wrote: “The harm to the amenity of residents of nearby residential properties must be weighed against the public benefits of a development proposal that will generate significant commercial growth in the Central Activities Zone (CAZ) by maximising the development potential of the site and generating a number of public benefits. The local loss of amenity is not considered significant enough to outweigh the wider benefits of the scheme.”

The proposal could see Accurist House, Watson House and a number of suites along Baker Street demolished. This includes 13 maisonettes and the Special Operations Executive at 62-64 Baker Street, which was used for a secret service operation set up in 1940 to support the resistance in all enemy-occupied countries during WWII.

Flats will consist of seven one-bedroom apartments and 10 two- to three-bedroom apartments between the first and sixth floors of Dorset Street. Derwent Lazari met the affordable housing requirements by purchasing sites on a separate site in Victoria, which is expected to be completed ahead of this project.

Derwent Lazari will contribute £1.25m to employment training and carbon offset funds and install solar panels on the nearby St Mary’s Bryanston Square Primary School as part of its carbon savings programme. It will also add greenery to the 33.5m structure and provide an outdoor green space on the roof. Westminster City Councillors will decide the fate of the project when they meet on 6 August.

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