Whither Royal Wharf?

Royal Wharf, a joint development by Oxley Holdings and UK Ballymore, looks to be a very exciting development at the Docklands area, East London.

The press has reported very good sales, both in Singapore and London.  A good sign, for regeneration of the London area.

All the good things have been said in the marketing material.  To provide more information and analysis, these few posts attempt to point out a few issues that all investors in Royal Wharf ought to be aware of.

1. Location
The location of the plot of land is not the most ideal you could find.  It is near Pontoon Dock DLR, however, this station is rather remote, on the DLR line.  Getting to Canary Wharf would require you to change trains. Note that Royal Wharf plot is at least 1.5km from the future Crossrail Station. More information can be found on this blog post.

2. Noise from London City Airport
The plot is located very near the runway of London City Airport.  This may give rise to some noise issues.  Check out this blog post for many pictures and videos.

Plane landing at London City Airport

3. Update on the Noise - It is noisy at Pontoon Dock!
Read more here.  Maybe the developer will have very good insulation and noise blocking mechanisms?

4. Walking around Excel London Area
Here are some pictures of a trip I took to that area of London last year.  The pictures give you a sense of how sprawling the area is.

5. Royal Wharf is 20 minutes walk to Custom House, not 10.
I think it is misleading to proudly claim that the Royal Wharf site is 10 minutes from Custom House (future Crossrail station).  I use official sources (Transport for London Journey Planner) to refute this claim here. 

6. What's That Smell?
Royal Wharf site is located a short distance away from the largest Sugar Refinery in the EU.  There is also an animal rendering plant (i.e. animal waste factory) run by John Knights nearby.  This animal waste factory has historically caused the entire community to stink, literally, thanks to the release of foul odours.  You can read the article here. 

7. Double Glazing - How Effective?
Some sales agents I've talked to brush aside the issue of noise from the Airport, insisting that the double-glazing of windows will solve all problems.  Really?  What type of double-glazing are we talking about? Read this blog post for more information. 

8 Many New Developments Coming up
There are many new developments coming up in London.  There is no need to rush into any one.  Check out my blog posts for more developments that I come across.

9. Royal Dockside London E16
This is another new-build development in the same area.  Read this blog to learn more about the Beckton Sewerage Treatment Works.

10 Hoola, Hoola
If you like this area, then this upcoming launch called Hoola is in a much better location.  Other upcoming developments in a superior location would be plots near the North Greenwich Tube station which are currently being developed by Knight Dragon of HK.  See this blog post.

Share your views
Do share your views on Royal Wharf at our community forum thread here.

Happy Reading!

Check out the Busy Traffic at London City Airport



Plane spotting - London City Airport - A great place for aviation enthusiasts!