Bombay Street kick starts £500m ‘biscuit town’s’ revival in London

Leading South London estate agent KALMARS are pleased to announce the launch of Bombay Street in Bermondsey, a striking new residential scheme providing 11 stylish private sale one, two and three bedroom lateral and duplex apartments, all with private balconies, which will kick-start the £500m regeneration of ‘biscuit town’, the famous name for the local area.

The new Bombay Street development is located on a 0.25 acre site at 4-10 Bombay Street in London’s Bermondsey which was originally occupied by a Peek Freans & Co subsidiary warehouse and workshop that stored ingredients and equipment for making wedding cakes and Christmas puddings. The development is located directly adjacent to the 10 acre former Peek Freans Biscuit Factory and warehouse site which is being regenerated by Grosvenor into a new £500 million ‘Biscuit Town’ destination for Bermondsey.

With commercial premises on the raised ground floor, the private sale apartments at Bombay Street are located across the upper floors ranging from 560 sqft up to 1,227 sqft in size. Each apartment benefits from a private outside balcony, with a rooftop communal terrace on the fifth floor of the building providing spectacular views across the new ‘biscuit town’ area and wider City.

Located in the heart of the area’s Blue Bermondsey BID ‘Biscuit Town’ regeneration area, the new Bombay Street apartments will be located close to the shops, restaurants and amenities of Southwark Park Road High Street, and within a short stroll of Bermondsey Underground Station and South Bermonday Railway Station,

Bombay Street has been designed by leading architectural practice Ackroyd Lowrie with a striking seven storey façade with floor-to-ceiling glazing and balconies on each level, complete with feature brickwork and zinc cladding. The architecture provides a contemporary reinterpretation of the famous Peek Freans wedding cake and Christmas pudding warehouse which originally stood on the site, replaced by industrial premises during the 1960s.

The Bombay Street project includes a new community garden and the redevelopment of the neighbouring Victorian railway arches to create a mixture of commercial and retail units, with some of the arches opened up to create new pedestrian boulevards which will provide access to the adjacent Grosvenor ‘biscuit town’ regeneration project.

Grosvenor’s new ‘biscuit town’ will retain and restore the original Feek Freans factory and warehouses into a new shopping centre, around which there will be a new community of 1,548 new homes, local shopping mall, 600 place secondary school, designed around a main public square and landscaped areas.

The vast Victorian-era Peek Freans & Co Biscuit Factory was founded by James Peek (1800-1879) and George Frean in 1857, joined in 1860 by James Carr, a member of the famous Scottish biscuit making family Carr’s. In 1865, in exchange for a stake in the business, the Carr family gave Peek Freans & Co the 10 acre (4 hectare) site fronting onto Clements Road and Drummond Road in Bermondsey.

The factory and related warehouses opened in 1866 and the resulting sweet-emanating smell from the factory resulted in the local Bermondsey area being given the nickname ‘Biscuit Town’. The factory was famous for producing branded Bourbons, Digestives, Twiglets, Glaxos and Shortcakes

In 1906 the business expanded into cake making, hence the warehouse originally on the Bombay Street site. Christmas puddings were stored in the Victorian railway arches adjacent to the Bombay Street site as they provided the ideal temperature and environment for long term storage.  The business made the wedding cakes for Queen Elizabeth II and Charles, Prince of Wales and Lady Diana Spencer. In 1949 Peek Freans & Co expanded into Canada and North America, where is still operates today, with the Bermondsey factory closing in 1989.

Now the new Bombay Street will help to kick-start the regeneration of ‘biscuit town’. All the apartments have a spacious open-plan living area, with a fully fitted designer kitchen located off the reception area, bordered by floor-to-ceiling windows opening onto the generously sized private balconies.

Selected apartments have principal bedroom suites with ensuite bathrooms, and some have bedrooms opening onto outside balconies. The duplex apartments offer the layout benefits of a house with the living accommodation on the lower level and the bedroom(s) on the upper floor. The living areas of the duplexes have folding glass walls that when folded away, creating large inside-outside entertaining spaces that merge the living room and outside terrace spaces.

The interior design and specification of the apartments take their design inspiration from the local influential institutions such as the Fashion and Textile museum with a fusion of sophisticated colours design led fittings. The hallway, living areas and kitchens have warehouse-living style engineered timber flooring with deep cosy carpets in the bedrooms. The open plan designer kitchens have soft-touch handleless kitchen units, wall units with recessed LED feature lighting and integrated appliances.

The sleek bathrooms have contemporary white suites with porcelain floor and wall tiles and heated towel rails. The apartments have underfloor heating throughout, a state-of-the-art comfort ventilation system and technology for home working.  Residents of Bombay Street will also benefit from cycle storage, private amenity space, and planting fencing and lighting. Each home boasts video entry systems, security locks to windows and balcony doors, CCTV surveillance and lift access.

Marc Faure, Head of New Homes at KALMARs said, “Bombay Street is a highly anticipated new apartment scheme which we are launching early so that buyers can selected their preferred home, prior to the development being build complete and ready for occupation this October. One of the first brand new developments to be launched in Bermondsey since the ending of the UK lockdown and the restarting of the London housing market these apartments are ideal for our new normal and all provide private outside space and technology for home working.”

Bombay Street also benefits from excellent connectivity, with both Bermondsey Station and South Bermondsey Overground Station approximately a 10-minute walk away from the development. Residents will be an eight-minute train journey away from Bank and Canary Wharf, and a nine-minute train journey away from Westminster.

Prices at Bombay Street start from £450,000 for a one bedroom, £600,000 for a two bedroom and £700,000 for a three bedroom apartment (all on new 150 year leases). For further sales information on the newly launched development contact sole agent KALMARs on Tel: 0207 403 0600 or visit www.kalmars.com.