Hipster hangout: once-overlooked north London district to get new neighbourhood with 1,700 homes

Hornsey is coming out of its shell after decades in relative obscurity. Before municipal reorganisation in the Sixties, the north London district was a borough in its own right with a famous Art Deco town hall, now being converted into apartments, and the magnificent Victorian Alexandra Palace dominating its lofty slopes.

Swallowed by newly created Haringey council, the area lost its identity, and its handsome Edwardian high street slowly fell into decline. New River Village, a former waterworks turned into 467 homes, was the catalyst for change. Developer St James subsequently snapped up a council depot which has been turned into a smart complex of flats called Smithfield Square, and now comes Clarendon, a new 12-acre neighbourhood of 1,714 homes.

It is being built on industrial land butting up against a railway line but the project will bring a new park plus 22 pockets of public green space and private courtyards as well as a new commercial hub.

Haringey planners hope the development will form a bridge between Hornsey and Wood Green's edgy town centre on the other side of the tracks, a regeneration priority. Remarkably, this urban Zone 3 location is next to metropolitan open land, a sort of green belt for the inner city.

Apartments at Hornsey Park Place, the first phase of homes in a 15-storey tower, cost from £335,000, low enough to entice first-time buyers who want a quick commute to central London.

Some hipsters have already discovered the area through Clarendon Yards, where light industrial sheds, part of the wider development plot, have been taken over temporarily by creative businesses and Street Feast, the buzzing pop-up food market that attracts hundreds of people at weekends.

Sean Ellis, boss of developer St William, says some of these so-called "meanwhile" uses could in due course be integrated into the new neighbourhood on a permanent basis. "We have a sizeable chunk of commercial space to fill, an obvious stepping stone for such businesses."

The Clarendon project will take at least 10 years to complete. Call 020 3393 5926.