Welcome to Nine Elms, London’s most Cinderella-like transformation story to date. Covering a massive 227 hectares, it’s a huge venture (made up of 42 projects), breathing new life into a South London riverside district. Infrastructure, transport, offices, education, entertainment, parks and thousands of new-build homes – it’s all part of this colossal £15 billion regeneration scheme, with a focus on heritage and community at its heart. Read on to discover the developments that are rated as the best places to live in Nine Elms, as well as read reviews from residents who own or rent in Nine Elms.
“The Nine Elms neighbourhood is one of the most exciting redevelopment projects of recent years, once an urban wasteland criss-crossed by railways lines and dotted with factories and disused car parks, the transformation has been nothing short of extraordinary. And it’s a success story that many first-time buyers and investors want to buy into.” – HomeViews Researcher
Where is Nine Elms?
SW8, the capital’s pending destination du jour, is spearheaded by multiple industry powerhouses, and stretches from Lambeth Bridge in the north to Chelsea Bridge in the south, sweeping across the Albert Embankment, Vauxhall and part of north Battersea. It encompasses the South Bank’s last remaining industrial portion, and looks across the river to the City of Westminster.
Development in Nine Elms
Countless column inches have been given over to high-profile relocations, such as the United States Embassy, which transferred to Nine Elms from Westminster’s Grosvenor Square in 2017. Designed by Philadelphia-based firm, Kieran Timberlake, its 65-metre-tall, 12-storey glass cube façade is now much better-placed for the Houses of Parliament. Close by, is Ballymore’s hotly anticipated Embassy Gardens, now a blossoming residential neighbourhood in its own right, fusing luxury apartments with Huw Morgan-designed landscaping, and a string of high-end leisure facilities.
“The 25 metre Sky Pool is a world first, a crystal-clear acrylic pool suspended between two buildings at 10 storeys. Impressive? Most definitely. Practical? Well, the fact that our climate is often more Baltic than Californian means it’ll have a limited window of use, but there’s always the indoor pool that can used the remainder of the year.” – HomeViews Property Pro contributor on Embassy Gardens…
Tech giant Apple is set to make the move to Nine Elms in 2021, rounding up some 1,400 employees from its current eight London offices. Its new flagship office will be on the revamped Battersea Power Station site – one of Nine Elms’ biggest phased projects. One of the world’s largest brick structures, it’s been empty for around 30 years, and The Battersea Power Station Development Company – a collection of investors – is shaping the site and its surrounding land at lightning speed. There are now more than 4,000 new homes here, along with countless commercial units, and a state-of-the-art health and residents’ club. In the works is a concert venue for 2,000 revellers, and a purpose-built high-street, dubbed ‘Electric Boulevard’, which is set to be packed with restaurants and boutiques. This will also be the setting for a brand-new linear park running from Battersea Power Station through to Vauxhall Cross, ticking off shops, public squares and hotels en route.
“What is important about living in London, for me, is the environment and people you surround yourself with. Choosing to live at Battersea Power Station was about being part of somewhere iconic, being in a beautiful space, joining a community and surrounding myself with like-minded people.” – Stephanie, Battersea Power Station resident
Other notable new-build developments in Nine Elms include Dalian Wanda’s One Nine Elms (now sold to Guangzhou R&F Properties) – close to Vauxhall Station and completing in late 2019. This exclusive skyscraper scheme is part residential development, part luxury hotel – the five-star Wanda Vista. Nine Elms is also welcoming the unique Versace-designed DAMAC Tower to the area. Previously known as Aykon London One, this 50-storey shrine to opulence and elegance is in construction and set to complete in 2020.
Nine Elms’ transport transformation
The area’s entire transport network is being overhauled, with new bus services, a new river pier now in action at Battersea Power Station, and extensions to the Thames River path among the list of improvements. There’s a new Thames bridge on the way, too, which promises to link Nine Elms with Pimlico. At the scheme’s core is the Northern line extension, which will create two new Zone 1 tube hubs in 2020 – Nine Elms and Battersea Power Station – and connect Nine Elms residents to the West End and the City in less than 15 minutes. The Nine Elms Point residential development, by Barratt Homes, comprises of 645 competitively-priced apartments right next to the planned Nine Elms station.
“Conveniently, Nine Elms Point is perched directly above an expansive Sainsburys flagship store, with other grocery options like Waitrose and Tesco Metro in walking distance too. The retail scene is a bit scarce at the moment but the regeneration will bring further growth in variety, as well as more restaurants and bars.” – Alycia Samsudin, Nine Elms Point viewer
All in all, Nine Elms’ dramatic transformation has the world watching. And to think it all began as a riverside path lined with nine elm trees…
