Canalside hotspot: warehouse-style apartments launch in Wenlock Basin
If you want a central waterside home but can’t afford an address overlooking the Thames, your next best option is an inner-city canal basin. Walk along the Regent’s Canal towpath west from Limehouse and eventually you will get to Wenlock Basin, right on the cusp of Hackney and Islington boroughs.
It is a development hotspot, with commercial wharves and light industrial premises making way for smart new homes.
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A faded old street plaque says that in 1861 this patch was part of the parish of Middlesex. Jamie Oliver’s Fifteen restaurant and redeveloped Gainsborough Studios, an arty enclave of flats and workspaces on the site where Alfred Hitchcock made six movies, are among the neighbourhood’s attractions. Victoria Miro art gallery is here, too.
Firms of architects, designers and digital start-ups are settling into the quiet backstreets.
City Wharf comprises a linear group of warehouse-style apartment blocks with communal roof terraces and courtyard gardens on the water’s edge. The 327 flats are designed with young metro types in mind, with storage for 300 bikes.
Merchant Building is the latest phase to be unveiled. Prices from £542,000, with Help to Buy available on selected homes. Call Fabrica on 020 3642 8973.