City's tallest building to be built on former TV studios (From Daily Echo)

City's tallest building to be built on former TV studios

4:33pm Wednesday 27th August 2008 in

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THE tallest building in Southampton is set to rise on the former Meridian TV site as part of a development of 500 flats, the Daily Echo can today reveal.

Builders are now putting the finishing touches to plans to create a 27-storey tower on the Northam site, which is estimated to be about 90m high.

Developer Oakdene Homes said it hoped the "landmark tower" would form an "eastern gateway" to the city.

The revelation comes just days after planning chiefs backed a scheme for 1,620 homes, including more than 1,500 flats, on the former VT shipbuilding site in Woolston.

The tallest of the three towers in that project, which garnered 1,639 objections, was 25 storeys, stretching 82m into the air, but would likely be dwarfed by the proposals for the Northam site.

It is part of a trend to ever taller buildings in the city centre, which has seen a series of proposals for skyline-shattering projects.

Currently the tallest building in the city is Millbrook Towers at 25 storeys and 73m, although that is shortly set to be surpassed by the 21-storey Radisson SAS Hotel being built in East Park Terrace. Thanks to a metal spire, it reaches 83m.

Other big towers are also set to go up at Watermark WestQuay, formerly known as WestQuay Phase Three; Ocean Village, where plans to build a 13-storey hotel have been approved, as have those for a 14- storey tower known as the City Gateway in Stoneham Way, and a 15-storey tower in Mayflower Plaza.

Surrey-based Oakdene bought the seven-acre former Meridian TV studios in Summers Street and Northam Road from ITV for £8.5m. It estimates the eventual project of 500 apartments and some commercial space will be worth £100m.

Carl Turpin, managing director of Oakdene Homes, said: "The transformation of this brownfield site will benefit the whole city. Oakdene Homes is proud to play its part in the regeneration of the city's waterfront into a desirable residential and commercial location."

Work has started on demolishing the studios, with Oakdene planning to use the site for open storage and car parking while it puts the finishing touches to its dramatic plans.

Royston Smith, Cabinet member for economic development, said: "We are keen to see the site developed and it would be an obvious location for a residential development.

"Some sites don't lend themselves to a large density of residential developments which is why we have seen the objections on the Woolston Riverside site.

"On this particular site it is suitable because it is on a main bus route and a main road into town.

"If we were going to have a tall building on a site this would be it. It would definitely be an iconic tall gateway building and of course this is amain gateway into the city."

Cllr Smith added that the proposals still needed to deal with highways issues and the development was months away from entering the planning stages.

"It's months away from a planning application but we are definitely keen to get going," he said.

• See today's Daily Echo for the full story.