QPR to build mixed-use development near potential new stadium site
Championship football club Queens Park Rangers (QPR) has won planning permission to build a £175m (US$231.4m, €209.2m) mixed-use development on the site it has identified for a new stadium.
The football club and Genesis Housing Association have received the green-light from the Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC) to establish 605 new homes – 40 per cent of which are being described as affordable – and leisure amenities and commercial space.
While the development, named Oaklands, does not include a new stadium, the move is a step towards winning planning permission for the ground which has proved elusive for Queens Park Rangers thus far.
It had earmarked land in the area to build a stadium to replace its current Loftus Road home, but Cargiant, the owner of the land, has rejected such a move, and is developing its own masterplan for the site.
QPR's housing development is not going to be built on the same piece of land as the Cargiant plot.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan will now review the plan before the final permission is given.
QPR co-chair Tony Fernandes said the move was part of a “long-term strategic investment” which “demonstrates our commitment to the area”.
“While our primary interest is securing the future of the club through the construction of a new stadium, we will only be able to deliver this by taking equity interests in wider regenerations projects such as Oaklands,” he added.
QPR football Championship development Tony Fernandes