Our Nama men in London, part 1

FRESH from signing his memorandum of understanding with Nama, Ballymore’s Sean Mulryan has been busy submitting a masterplan for 2,000 homes next to the planned US embassy in the Nine Elms area of London. Dubbed Embassy Gardens, the scheme has been designed with security for the embassy in mind and the plan includes a hotel, office space and the usual restaurants and bars.

"This whole stretch from Tower Bridge to Battersea Power Station presents an incredible opportunity to restore this area, which was once a part of central London. Industrialisation led to it becoming a hole in the city's fabric and this is about joining it up and planning for liveability with a vibrant mix of uses and high quality public realm," said Sir Terry Farrell of Terry Farrell Partners, one of the architectural practices that worked on the project. Mulryan reached a conditional deal in 2008 to sell the US government five acres of land there for the new embassy and it is scheduled to move in in 2017. The Embassy Gardens project should be well underway by that stage – market conditions permitting – with a decision on planning said to be likely by the end of this year. Marketing of the project will then commence. Ballymore didn't reply to a request from Around The Blockfor further details on the project but the developer has wide experience with projects of this size: earlier this year it was granted permission for more than 1,700 homes in Leamouth Peninsula in London's docklands.