Owners of The Old War Office received the go-ahead to transform the 580k SF building into a 125-room luxury hotel and spa with up to 88 residential apartments, event space, restaurants, bars and shops. Westminster Council also gave permission to add three new storeys, bringing it up to seven floors, and add two new basement levels.
The plans to transform the former headquarters of the British military, where Winston Churchill once had an office, has proved contentious as neighbours raised objections to external features being modified on the Grade II listed building. The owners of the nearby Corinthia Hotel complained that proposed road changes would route traffic past its front door, so “the street becomes part of a major construction site.”
Owners Hinduja Group and Obrascon Huarte Lain Desarrollos will be required to contribute £10M into the city’s affordable housing fund, and make some public realm improvements.
The government sold the property in 2014 for about £350M as part of its ongoing consolidation plan.
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