Royal Dockside London E16 - New Asian Business Port

The Royal Dockside development offers brand new luxury apartments and penthouses, 5 minutes walk from Gallions Reach DLR and within 10 minutes walk of London's New Asian Business Port.

New Asian Business Port
The New Asian Business Port  (£1bn investment, 2.5million sqft of office space) has the strong backing of Mayor Boris Johnson. According to this press release, the Mayor is exploring a number of measures with the UK government which would make it easier and cheaper both for Asian businesses to set up and trade internationally from the Royal Docks and for UK companies to export and access Asian and other non-EU markets.

With all the money pouring in from China (especially now that China is really investing overseas, see this post), as well as Boris Johnson's determination to make this a success, it is reasonable to expect that this place will certainly be transformed in the next 5 to 10 years.

All this makes Royal Dockside a potentially interesting investment.  Let's look more closely at this development.  See the following google maps snapshot.

Noise Issues
Similar to Royal Wharf, the issue of noise will plague this development.   Aircraft landing from the East and taking off into the East will fly very close to the development.  See this blog post.

Smell Issues
The development is about 500M to the very huge Beckton Sewerage Treatment Works, as the bird flies. Beckton is Europe's largest sewerage treatment works, and currently undergoing expansion to be increase its capacity.  According to the Thames water website,

"In addition, we will be investing a further £67m as part of a separate project to cover the smelliest parts of the site, including all 16 primary settlement tanks – an area the size of ten football pitches – to significantly reduce odour emissions by 50 per cent."  (what about the other 50%?)

Transport Links 

The development is a 5 minute walk to Galliard Reach DLR.  From there, sample transport links:

DLR
Gallions Reach to Custom House (future Crossrail) - 8 minutes
Gallions Reach to Canary Wharf  - 22 minutes (one change at Poplar DLR)

Remember, DLR is not the Tube.

Here are some issues from the brochure, showing exactly where this development would be located.

Overall Assessment? 
Buy or not to buy? It all depends.  So let's lay out the cold facts.

Downsides
The Airport is not going to move.  The location is not going to change.  No chance of a Tube station coming by or Crossrail station popping up.  The Sewerage plant is not going to shift either.

Upsides
There is nothing much going on in the area now but the New Asian Business Port as well as all the re-generation going on in this area is certainly a big plus.  The Mayor of London is also very keen to make this some sort of showpiece, so you can be sure that things will move.  Will this become the next London CBD? It is possible, but that would likely take some time.

Canary Wharf has more than 16 million square feet of office space. She is still expanding and prospects are looking good.  See this blog post on international developers moving into London, especially Canary Wharf.

The new Asian Business Port would give Canary Wharf some good local competition which is not a bad thing.

Does Not Fit Into Our Investment Strategy
Personally, we wouldn't buy into this development because it does not really fit into our investment strategy. We find the location too far, too off-the-beaten track, so to speak.  (Maybe we are just not true risk-takers)

But this is not to say that developments in the Docklands are not a good investment.  The marketing people will tell you that this place the potential to easily reach 1,000psf so purchasing at 500psf is already a good deal.  If the Asian Business Port becomes anything close to Canary Wharf, then 1,000psf won't be a problem.

Please be clear of the upsides and downsides, and make up your own mind.

PS: I thank one reader of my blog for alerting me to this development and for sending me the development brochure.  I seriously doubt the marketing people told you the existence of Europe's largest sewerage plant. Cheers!

Important Disclaimer - . The views contained in this blog and blog post are entirely mine. We cannot be made responsible for any investment decisions you may, or may not, take. Nothing in this blog can be construed as professional investment advice, as we are NOT professional investors and we are ill qualified to give you any advice.  Read the blog at YOUR own risk