$11b recharge for Battersea Power Station

The owners of Battersea Power Station, the derelict London landmark that closed 27 years ago, have won approval to build apartments, stores and offices on the site at a cost of £5.5 billion ($11.4 billion).

Wandsworth Borough Council approved the plan at a meeting yesterday after two other developers failed to revamp the 77-year-old property.

Irish millionaires Richard Barrett and John Ronan, whose Jersey-registered Real Estate Opportunities (REO) owns the site, got consent to build 3400 homes and 325,000sq m of commercial space.

"This very exciting proposal will be a shot in the arm for Battersea and London," said Councillor Nick Cuff, chairman of the committee that approved the plan.

Barrett and Ronan needed the consent to raise money from investors to finance the project and repay money owed to Lloyds Banking Group and Ireland's National Asset Management Agency.

They plan to transfer the 15ha site to a separate company and have held talks with potential investors including sovereign wealth funds and large real estate companies, according to Rob Tincknell, a director of REO.

The power station's two former turbine halls will be used for public events such as conferences and will contain the largest ballroom in London, according to the project's website. Each hall is about the same size as the one at the Tate Modern, the former Bankside Power Station that was converted into an art gallery in 2000.

- Bloomberg