The Wapping Project was sold on 19th July 2013 to UK Real Estate Ltd for £3.2m + VAT and the arts space will close fully on 22nd December 2013.

In a recent article in the Observer (1) architecture critic Rowan Moore made the claim that “Complaining Nimbys have led to the closure of one of London’s most important and brightest community art spaces”.

The twittersphere was soon swamped by retweets of the article’s headline:

The Wapping Project: our obsession with house prices will turn our cities into cultural deserts.

But this claim is not true. The facts do not support Rowan Moore’s story.

One complaint every two years

Tower Hamlets Police have checked and then double checked for us and they have no record of any calls or complaints about the Wapping Project.

Tower Hamlets Council have received just six minor complaints during the last thirteen years and state these were resolved informally, or that no further action was taken because no statutory nuisance had been caused. That’s an average of just one complaint every two years.

Rubbish collection times changed

The only complaint of the six which was made in 2013 and is recorded relates to disturbance caused by Tower Hamlets council refuse collection service. The issue was resolved by the council changing their hours of rubbish collection at the Wapping Project.

We’ve spoken to many residents living near the Wapping Project and none have issues with noise disturbance. All were shocked and upset that local residents are being blamed for the Wapping Project’s closure.

Prior to news of the sale in the Observer, Wapping blogger Paul Kellaway had already made the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) requests to Tower Hamlets Council which revealed the details of the six minor noise complaints which have been made during the last thirteen years [view details].

So if the Wapping Project was not forced to close by local residents complaining about noise what could be the reason for the death of this much loved cultural space?

The simple explanation seems to be that Jules Wright, the owner of the Wapping Project, was simply tired of it and the amount of work it took to run.

Jules has said to a number of people that she wants to focus on her other activities, which include the Wapping Project Bankside, a commercial art gallery.

The fact is that the Wapping Project has not caused noise disturbance for local residents and Tower Hamlets Council did not threaten to close the Wapping Project down because of Nimby residents. Jules Wright wanted to sell and UK Real Estate wanted to buy it.

The new owner of the Wapping Project

Nick Capstick-Dale owns and runs UK Real Estate, but in contrast to most property developers he claims to have not sold a property since 1992. Seems like he falls in love with his properties and cannot bear to part with them [This is Money].

Nick has spent nearly four years painstakingly restoring Wapping’s Metropolitan Wharf, just a stone’s throw from the Wapping Project, to its former glory [view post].

We met Nick Capstick-Dale last week to get the facts about the Wapping Project purchase and find out what he intends to do with a Grade 2 listed old hydraulic power station site.

After visiting the Wapping Project three years ago and loving the place, Nick asked to be notified if it was ever put up for sale.

Around mid 2012 Jules Wright must have notified her agents that she wanted to sell as Nick got the call he was waiting for.

The initial asking price was too high, but after a few months Nick became aware of conversations taking place with other property developers and feared the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station would be ruined by a buyer unsympathetic to its history and heritage.

No blocks of flats, no fast food drive thru

As time passed, Nick decided that he couldn’t bear for the Wapping Wall area of Wapping to be ruined, either by a fast food drive through or other horrid development on the Wapping Project site.

So in July 2013, the original asking price was negotiated down and the Wapping Project was sold for £3.2m + VAT in what almost sounded like an impulse buy.

Vacant possession doesn’t take place until the 23rd December 2013, so only then can architectural surveys of the industrial building, site and basement area be carried out to determine what is or isn’t feasible.

Until then, firm plans for the future cannot be drawn up, but they will be shared locally as soon as there is something to share.

But Nick could describe his broad future vision for the future of the site. What about building some flats we asked?

“There are no plans to construct blocks of flats, build or create residential properties on the site,” said Nick with a look of horror when we asked about residential development.

“The land and car park area around the Power Station building will be maintained, as it’s a bit of a mess and then landscaped nicely.”

No application for a change of use is planned, meaning future uses will be within the existing commercial uses already approved. These cover theatre, performance, exhibition, cultural, leisure and associated amenities as well as use of some space as a restaurant.

So while the Wapping Project begins to fade from people’s memories, it seems highly likely something better is just around the corner for the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station.

(1) Observer, Sunday 1 December [view article]

Bringing the Wapping Hydraulic Power Station back to life

Nick believes the future success of the old industrial site means bringing it back to life and making it appealing to a wide audience so that there are always people wanting to be there. It must provide something for everyone: residents, visitors, and local workers.

Long term, the old power station site needs to cover its costs, but Nick does not have the one to two year pressure of maximising shareholder value that a listed property development company, answerable to a board and shareholders would. He doesn’t need it to make a profit, just break even ultimately. He’s in no rush.

Nick says he loves nice properties and has no plans to sell either Metropolitan Wharf or the Wapping Project. His track record to date would seem to bear this promise out.

Chatting to Nick, a regular visitor to our much loved local Italian restaurant, Il Bordello, it’s impossible to doubt his enthusiasm about Wapping – he even jokes, that if he was single he’d move here.

It’s reassuring to see the evidence from UK Real Estate’s other Wapping property investment, Metropolitan Wharf which has taken almost four years to beautifully restore and renovate, which we saw inside for ourselves last year [view post] and again last week.

What’s in Wapping’s opinion on the Wapping Project sale

We object to Wapping residents being called “complaining Nimbys” and blamed for the closure of the Wapping Project because it’s not true.

Time will tell, but we think Wapping has nothing to fear from the sale of the Wapping Project to UK Real Estate Ltd and potentially, a lot to gain.

Wapping residents are just as upset as Rowan Moore about the closure of the Wapping Project, but luckily for E1W, the future is looking quite bright and nothing like the cultural desert he makes out it will become.