04 Aug 2023
Another deadline has come and gone for the city centre’s beleaguered Jubilee Square – the development once known as CCOS (City Centre Opportunity Site) South.
Having previously been promised for completion last October, then March, and more recently the end of July, it now seems unlikely to be completed until next month at the earliest.
Demolition work began on the former police station and NHS site in Victoria Street at the start of 2019, but the original plans were withdrawn in November 2019 after the Civic Society raised concerns with the design.
A revised scheme was granted planning permission in January 2021 following a public competition to pick one of three different architects’ designs.
But the cost of the project soared from an initial £49m to £64m, and construction company Morgan Sindall has still not handed over the site to SADC, more than four and a half years since it first started work.
The council has sold all 93 residential properties to Watford Community Housing, which plans to make 33 available for social rent and sell 60 apartments on a shared-ownership basis with support from Homes England.
With zero income to date and borrowings running into many tens of millions Jubilee Square is undoubtedly a massive ongoing drain on local funds.
A spokesperson for Morgan Sindall Construction said: “We are looking forward to completing our programme of works at Jubilee Square, which is anticipated to finish in August. The scheme is something that the city can be proud of and through its mix of residential, commercial, and retail uses will ensure the future vitality of the central area.
“Design changes and market conditions did extend the original project timeline. In part, these concern the unprecedented material supply issues that have affected every major building project in the UK. As a business we have worked collaboratively with St Albans council throughout to deliver a project that will make a positive difference to St Albans.”
SADC would not comment on the cost implications of the delays due to confidentiality terms within their contract with Morgan Sindall.
