£450m bid to rejuvenate St James’s

Work is set to begin on the first stage of a £450 million transformation of the “lost” quarter of the West End.

The gloomy rat runs between Lower Regent Street and Haymarket in the heart of the St James’s district are to be opened up in a regeneration of the area masterminded by major landlord the Crown Estate. The St James’s Market scheme involves the demolition and redevelopment of modern blocks and the creation of a new shopping and offices complex with 15 new flats and a “pedestrianised public space”, giving the area a new lease of life.

The first piece of the jigsaw is an £87 million contract awarded to contractors Balfour Beatty to provide 260,000 sq ft of new commercial and retail space across two eight-storey blocks.

The Crown Estate is hoping for a revival south of Piccadilly Circus to match its £750 million transformation of Regent Street. The project is due for completion in summer 2015.