Receivers Move In On 1 Westbridge

A planning application has been filed for 1 Westbridge in Leicester to
extend planning permission for the shorter two towers on the site to stop
it from lapsing.

Unfortunately rather than this being positive news, the application has
been filed by the Joint LPA Receivers, S Hunt and JB Judd. LPA
Receivers are a special type of receiver who are experts in property and
act for banks or other financial institutions that have made loans on which
property is secured.

What this effectively means is that they have been appointed to get the
maximum value out of the site so that creditors can be paid by acting in
the place of the owner of the property. Any extension of the planning
permission will likely be to help maintain the value of the site so that it
can be sold on.

The planning application relates specifically to the Ian Simpson designed
27 and 22 storey towers of the project on Bath Lane, plus a lower-rise 8
storey building that add up to a total of 388 apartments.

No explanation is given for the exclusion of the taller tower from the
application however one reason could be that the receivers have decided
to sell the site in two lots, or alternatively they may have supposed that the
taller building was unfeasible and would reduce the overall value they
could secure. If permission for this were to lapse then a newer more
realistic design would be able to take its place.

The former developer, Westbridge Living, has been moved into
adminstrative receivership following its inability to secure new funding
making the existence of the company moot as it only has one project - 1
Westbridge.