Yahoo Finance First residents move into multi-billion pound Battersea Power Station 38 years after it was decommissioned
The first residents to live within the Battersea Power Station building that once provided electricity for much of London were handed their keys and moved into their homes last night.
The symbolic moment comes nine years after the former coal-fired generator was sold to a Malaysian consortium after lying empty and derelict for decades since being decommissioned in the Eighties.
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The restoration of the vast Grade II* listed brick building is the centrepiece of a £9 billion regeneration on the banks of the Thames.
Residents have already moved into newly built apartment blocks that form part of the development but this is the first time that any owners have moved into flats in the iconic power station itself.
The new occupants are in Switch House West, the first major element of the power station to complete. The rest of the building will be completing in stages through the rest of the year, with residents moving into the Boiler House and Switch House East in the coming months.
A three bedroom penthouse at the power station went on sale for £8.2 million last month.
The occasion was marked with a special public performance by members of the London Symphony Orchestra last night, who played at the foot of the power station, alongside Battersea Power Station’s own Community Choir.
Half a million square feet of office space in the building is set to be handed over to Apple this summer to commence the fit out of its new London headquarters.
A new underground station on the Northern Line Extension is due to open this autumn.
Simon Murphy, chief executive of Battersea Power Station Development Company, said: “Thanks to all of the shareholders and their unwavering commitment, together with all those involved in the restoration of this landmark building, we can confidently say that the Everest of Real Estate, which the Power Station was once famously nicknamed, has finally been scaled.
“Our Power Station residents join an already thriving community of people living, working and enjoying this new riverside destination. Following this latest significant milestone, we now look forward to completing the remaining elements of the Power Station ahead of opening to the public next year.”
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