The Nine Elms area of Battersea in south-west London will be part of a new regeneration plan. Announced in November 2014, the 57-acre project will be developed by a consortium that includes St Modwen Properties, construction firm Vinci and the Covent Garden Market Authority. At the heart of the regeneration plan will be the refurbishment of New Covent Garden. Set to begin construction in spring 2015, the project will include new housing and office space as well as recreation and leisure facilities.

The proposal calls for the redevelopment of New Covent Garden, which has received planning permission for an extensive facelift. Since 1974, the publicly-owned market has been an important centre for fruit, vegetable and flower sales. New Covent Garden is the United Kingdom’s largest wholesale fruit, vegetable and flower market and one of Britain’s largest wholesale markets. Located between Vauxhall and Battersea, the market serves many of London’s restaurants, hotels, florists and catering businesses as well as hospitals, schools and prisons.

Operated by the Covent Garden Market Authority, the market has some 200 businesses and employs over 2,500 people. The ten-year revitalisation of the market site will cost approximately £2 billion, which will include new housing and a tube extension. Much of the redevelopment will be funded by development, including the releasing of spare land to property developers. The project will retain over 500,000 square feet of market space at the New Covent Garden Market while also making way for a new food quarter that will attract visitors to the area.

The area will see the construction of 3,000 new homes as part of the regeneration plan. The project will also see the construction of three towers with housing units, which will replace New Covent Garden’s flower market. Approximately 600 of the homes will be set aside for local Wandsworth residents. These homes, which represent a fifth of the total, will be reserved for local residents who are interested in buying or renting through affordable housing schemes. The site will also include new offices, a hotel, shops, restaurants and cafes. The plan also includes rooftop football pitches.

The regeneration plan’s new £1 billion extension of the Northern Line will run from Kennington to Battersea. Construction on the tube expansion is set to begin in spring 2015. The extension is expected to be open in 2020. The line will include a new station at Nine Elms in the east and another station close to Battersea Power Station. It will also be funded by development of the area. Approved by the Secretary of State for Transport, the project will also mean that the area will gain official Zone One status.

The New Covent Garden regeneration project is one of several initiatives in Nine Elms, a district is situated in the north-east corner of the London Borough of Wandsworth between Battersea and Vauxhall. Largely an industrial area, the Battersea Power Station is one of the district’s most recognisable features. Since 2013, regeneration schemes in the area have centred around the power station and are bringing new shops, restaurants, cafes, galleries and leisure facilities to the area, as well as new office space and residential buildings. Scheduled for completion in 2017, the new embassy of the United States will also be relocated to the area. The Dutch embassy will also be moved to the area from its current home in Kensington. In all, development schemes in the area will add more than 20,000 homes including 3,800 units at the Battersea Power Station.