The Mayor of London’s development corporation for Old Oak and Park Royal is currently managing the process to find a private-sector partner to redevelop London’s largest brownfield site.
Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) aims to create a new urban district of 8,000 new homes, up to 200,000m² of work and community space, and two new parks across 31ha of brownfield land.
The regeneration is anchored by Old Oak Common station where HS2, the Elizabeth line, Great Western Mainline and Heathrow Express services will meet.
The process of procuring a long-term developer and partner for the scheme is taking place in two stages. A participation and initial tenders stage – which closes for entries tomorrow (21 July) – followed by a dialogue and final tenders stage that will result in the selection of a preferred bidder early in 2027.
Matthew Carpen, chief executive of OPDC previously described the launch of the process as a ‘landmark moment’ for the corporation, ‘‘for west London and for the future shape of this city’.
He said: ‘With 31ha of public land at Old Oak now under a single, unified strategy, we have been given an incredible responsibility to move from planning into delivery at pace.’
He said the search for a long-term partner aimed to find someone who ‘shared its ambition and [wanted] to help create London’s next great urban district’.
The hunt for a private sector partner follows the resolution of difficult land ownership issues last month when OPDC agreed heads of terms with central government, the Department for Transport (DfT) and Network Rail.
Under the deal, the ODPC agreed to consolidate its land with sites owned by the DfT into a single development site under public sector ownership, which Gort Scott director Fiona Scott hailed as a ‘milestone’ moment.
The Bermondsey-based practice has been leading the design team for the masterplan for the past four years. Allies and Morrison and Periscope have also been involved in the scheme.
‘It’s hard to emphasise the scale of the opportunity,’ Scott said. ‘Having witnessed how much work has been done, by so many people, to get address challenges around land assembly, funding, community support, planning policy and political will – it’s a really major achievement.
‘The masterplan will be many years in delivery and, even after the right development partner has been identified, redefining this bit of city will be the work of many hands and minds over many years.’
