Since our Spring newsletter, we have seen the local elections come and go – and with them a dramatic turnaround in the political face of Camden Council. Having dominated Camden’s politics for the last thirty-five years, Labour lost eleven councillors in the May elections, to hold just eighteen out of the fifty-four Council seats. The Liberal Democrats are now the largest party with twenty seats and the Conservatives increased their representation to fourteen councillors. The Lib Dems and Conservatives have joined forces and formed a Partnership Administration to run the Council together. It will be interesting to see how this develops over the coming months.
The Bedford Square Regeneration Project is now all but completed. Unfortunately, late in the day, Thames Water decided that the water mains in the Square should be replaced and so, until this work is completed, the roadways on the north and south sides of the Square will be without their final surface coatings. However, the resin-bonded gravel surface to the pedestrian areas around the central garden is complete and the overall effect is very attractive and a fitting setting for the magnificent Georgian buildings that surround the Square.
We are pleased to have let our only vacant office building in the Square at the end of May. Leverton House, 13 Bedford Square, was the home of Thomas Leverton (1743-1824) from 1781 until his death. A noted architect, Leverton was responsible for the interior and exterior design of a number of properties in Bedford Square. The newest residents in this house – moving in later in the summer - will be Celtic Pharma, a private equity firm investing in the development of late-stage pharmaceutical products and the growth of innovative biotechnology companies. We will be running a feature on Celtic Pharma in the Autumn edition of the newsletter.
Elsewhere in the area, as reported in this issue, Allied London Properties’ exciting refurbishment of The Brunswick Centre is approaching completion and is due to be officially opened in July. I am sure that its range of shops and restaurants will be a great asset to the area, to be added to the many and increasing attractions of Bloomsbury.
The Duke of Bedford
