EMERGING LONDON 2018

WEMBLEY HA9 Home to not just one, but two iconic national venues – the Stadium and the SSE Arena – Wembley is deeply embedded in the modern psyche as a sporting and music destination. But, until relatively recently, the immediate hinterland around those venues, around a mile away from Wembley town centre, was a sparsely populated, reinforced concrete jungle of light industrial buildings. Many dated back to the area’s original development for the British Empire exhibition in 1924. Change over the last two decades has been radical and comprehensive. And the transformation, which began with the seven-year redevelopment of the Stadium is on-going. Quintain’s ownership of the surrounding 85 acres has resulted in a concerted push to populate Wembley Park area with both residents and regular visitors. The completion of 500 new homes since 2008, the creation of 1,400 four-star Hilton hotel rooms in 2012 and the opening of the London Designer Outlet in 2013 have achieved both, but the programme to deliver more housing, supported by retail/leisure space (see Interview pages 18-19) will continue for another decade. Wembley Calling, Brent Council’s Area Action Plan, aims to add a total of 11,500 new homes, around 300,000 sq ft of new retail space and 10,000 new jobs by 2030. Wembley’s multiple transport nodes, including a number of main line rail and London Underground connections, together with the wholescale remodelling at Wembley Park, have attracted considerable developer and investor interest. Barratt London for example, recently completed over 200 residential units at its Wembley Park Gate development on Olympic Way. Similar schemes are expected to follow. KEY STATISTICS C&W Evolutionary Status: UP & COMING C&W Location Ranking: 67 TfL travel zone: 4 Local authority: Brent Distance from central London: 7 miles north west Population: 337,000 (©GLA borough population projections 2018) Spotlight on 37 36 CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD  | EMERGING LONDON SPOTLIGHT ON WEMBLEY