Plans for a development of close to 700 homes on the site of the Mount Pleasant postal sorting office have been approved by the mayor of London.
Royal Mail Group plans to build 681 homes on part of the Mount Pleasant site in blocks ranging from three to 15 storeys high. They have been designed by architects AHMM, Feilden Clegg Bradley, Allies & Morrison and Wilkinson Eyre Architects.
Mayor of London Boris Johnson has approved the plans after the amount of property deemed to be affordable housing was raised to 24%, from the originally proposed 12%.
Full planning permission remains subject to the completion of a Section 106 (planning gain) agreement.
Mount Pleasant sits on a 12-acre site in Clerkenwell, midway between King's Cross and Farringdon stations. It is on the border of Islington and Camden boroughs.
Royal Mail Group property director Martin Gafsen said: “I am delighted that the Mayor of London has given permission in principle for us to develop parts of our Mount Pleasant site in central London that are surplus to our operational requirements. This is a great opportunity for us to contribute to the regeneration of the area around our iconic mail centre building.
“The next step for Royal Mail is to complete the design of the pre-development works at Mount Pleasant, which are vital to separate our mail operations from the planned residential areas. Royal Mail will continue to work with the GLA, local authorities, businesses and the community as we progress with our development.”
Half of the Mount Pleasant site will continue to be a postal sorting office.
