Battersea Power Station Defied Bankruptcy — But Its Nine Elms Home Draws Fire Almost exactly 10 years ago, the bankers at Lloyds decided they had had enough. The owners of Battersea Power Station owed them £325M and the loan was overdue. No matter that it was one of London’s most famous buildings and the centrepiece of a £9B development plan: With no immediate prospect of repayment and a government ramping up pressure to cut exposure to property and bring in debts owed in the wake of the financial crisis, the newly nationalised Lloyds concluded it was time to pull the plug. Real Estate Opportunities, part of Irish property company Treasury Holdings and the company that owned the power station, was put into administration in December 2011. That marked the third time a developer buying the scheme failed to see through redevelopment plans — and nearly 20 years since the power station, built in two stages in the 1930s and 1950s, was decommissioned. Plans, including a theme park, came and went. For years, it appeared another proposal had met the same fate, this one for a massive mixed-use scheme of high-end apartments, offices, a concert venue and a shopping centre. 
Fast forward a decade, and Battersea Power Station and its surrounding area, Nine Elms, have changed immeasurably. More than 1,300 flats have been built in and around the power station, with new international owners embracing the vision that seemed to have gone up in smoke. Next…  Read the full story here. | | |
