Plans for artists’ studios in Greenwich Council’s former offices at Riverside House to be turned into student halls and a Holiday Inn have been approved by the local authority’s planning board.
At the same meeting last Tuesday (January 14), proposals to build a 12-storey student tower in the same road – Beresford Street – by a different developer were also waved through.
This development, next to the Premier Inn, will be an adjacent extension to a 298-room, 14-storey student block already being built on the site of the former Woolwich Catholic Club.
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In total, 332 student rooms will be created at the Riverside House site, with a further 120 planned for the new tower. The Holiday Inn hotel will have 265 rooms.
The Riverside House site would be divided into two buildings, separating the hotel from the student accommodation, with three floors added to the 14-storey tower to house student rooms.
At last week’s meeting, Kidbrooke councillor Dave Sullivan asked developer CityInc what would happen to the artists who had been using the site since 2021.
The developer’s Bob Secker said: “We understand from the current occupier that they’ve already secured four new sites to put their existing tenants into.
“They feel very confident that they’ll be able to rehouse the tenants that are currently operating from the site.”
He added that CityInc was “chomping at the bit” to start work, and would be targeting a September 2027 completion date for the new student halls.
Harry De Lotbiniere managing director at Hurlington, the developer behind the new student tower, said that this project had a similar timeline.
He added: “Greenwich is one of the boroughs that has the highest proportion of full-time students to available purpose-built accommodation.
“So there’s definitely a strong need.”
One neighbour, Malcolm Corbett, spoke against the scheme, claiming it would lead to a loss of privacy and light in his building, Ocean House.
Vice chair Cllr Sandra Bauer said: “I think it’s very unfortunate that residents in Ocean House feel that they’re going to be affected by this.
“On the other hand, I’m very excited that Woolwich can become a student town again.”
Councillors ultimately voted to approve the plans, alongside the Riverside House scheme.
