The alligator park and farm would be the first in London, and is one of a series of exciting leisure concepts Avanton is reviewing.
– Marc Pennick, co-founding director of Avanton

Avanton, a London-based property developer, has announced potential plans to create an alligator farm and enclosure inside a Grade II-listed Victorian gasholder on the city's Old Kent Road.

The enclosure would form the centrepiece of a housing and office development worth a reported £230m (US$300m, €270m).

The structure's tanks would be converted to become a habitat, while part of the 160ft (49m) iron frame would be glazed to create a multi-storey conservatory with the humid, Florida-style climate necessary to accommodate alligators.

Gasholders, or gasometers, were once a familiar sight across the UK, but they fell out of use and many have since been demolished or redeveloped for other purposes, such as a park.

The gasholder in question was built in 1881 and is leftover from an old gasworks that supplied the local area from the 1830s.

"The alligator park concept came to us after we were approached by an out-of-town specialist looking for a location for an alligator park," said Marc Pennick, co-founding director of Avanton.

"We want to turn the gasholder into something really special for London, so alongside the alligator park we are also looking at the option of turning it into a large lido and leisure deck complex, and are also thinking about an artistic garden with water features."

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