Battersea Power Station preferred buyers chosen | Business | guardian.co.uk

Battersea Power Station preferred buyers chosen | Business | guardian.co.uk

Battersea Power Station is set to be saved in a £400m deal after a Malaysian consortium was appointed as the preferred buyer for the landmark building on London's south bank, which has lain derelict for three decades. Malaysian property developers SP Setia and Sime Darby Property outbid Chelsea Football Club, which had been looking to build a new 60,000-seater stadium south of the river.
Beating off competition from a host of other bidders, the Malaysian duo have entered exclusive talks with administrators Ernst & Young to buy the 15-hectare site for £400m. The venture is understood to want to work within the 8.3m square foot outline planning consent obtained by the site's previous owner, the struggling Irish developer Treasury Holdings, for a scheme by Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly that comprised 3,700 homes along with offices, shops and restaurants.
In a joint statement, the Malaysian partners said they were planning a "multi use real estate regeneration project" that would preserve the facade of the historical power plant with its distinctive four white chimney stacks, which featured on Pink Floyd's 1977 Animals album cover. Even though the building is Grade II*-listed, there had been growing calls for its protected status to be removed so it could be knocked down. The power station was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, the creator of the red telephone box who also designed the former Bankside power station which became Tate Modern. It is Europe's largest brick building and has stood empty since being decommissioned in 1983.