Another part of the fabric of Croydon society could face major changes after 150 years, following the past decade of frustration and disappointment with the way the Old Town area has been allowed to become run-down.
EXCLUSIVE by STEVEN DOWNES
At the heart of Croydon: the Reeves furniture showroom in the distance, the island site (foreground) created after the 2011 riots is now derelict
The House of Reeves furniture store, one of the mainstays of Croydon business for more than 150 years, has been put up for sale, carrying a guide price of £2.5million.
The business in the Old Town is so synonymous with Croydon, a tram stop has been named after it – Reeves Corner.
It became world famous in 2011 when arsonists set light to one of the business’s buildings during the Croydon riots, the shocking pictures being shown on television news bulletins around the globe.
The Reeves family was quick to reorganise their showrooms in order to trade from the other side of the tram tracks. But the scene of the fire has been left derelict and come to blight the area, with attempts to redevelop it thwarted repeatedly by the council’s planning department.
Global news: how the Reeves furniture store burned in August 2011
According to sources close to the Reeves business, trading remains strong.
But some shareholders have grown tired of the uncertainty and difficulties, and they have opted to sell off the property for development after a decade of frustration and disappointment with the way the area has been allowed to become run-down.
A full-page ad from Wandsworth-based estate agents and auctioneers Barney Estates appeared in local papers last week offering a “unique site in the heart of West Croydon, famously known as Reeves Corner”.
The ad states, “The site spans approximately 14,000 sq ft and offers a wide variety of development possibilities, subject to the relevant planning consents.”
Devastated: the impact of one night of rioting 11 years ago has never been put right
Intriguingly, it continues, “The existing tenants will remain in situ for up to six months after completion.” This suggests a speculative sale effort, giving the furniture business time to re-locate if successful.
Insiders suggest that what is available for sale is three separate parcels of property, including the building currently used by the House of Reeves furniture business.
The derelict site in the middle of the roads and tram tracks is 40per cent owned by the Reeves family and 60per cent owned by the Whitgift Foundation, and it is this property which is most likely to be sold. It is being marketed by Barney Estates separately, and has been given the name – apparently without any sense of irony – as “The Icon Corner”.
Computer generated images on the ad show a 100-metre-high Shard-like skyscraper on the site, which measures less than one-fifth of an acre. They give this site a guide price of £2million.
“The Whitgift Foundation have had no real income from the property for 11 years,” the source said.
For sale: how the Reeves Corner site appears on the estate agents’ website, with CGIs of possible mixed-use redevelopment
The source suggested some scepticism about whether the sale of any other part of the property will be successful, “given all the shenanigans that have gone on over the years with the council”.
The derelict part of the site was offered for sale in 2021, evidently unsuccessfully.
“Icon Corner”, Reeves Corner and another nearby site are all included in an auction taking place this Thursday.
Barney Estates today confirmed that the property was first advertised last week and that it has so far attracted “a fair amount of interest”.
Their newspaper advertisement refers to a previous planning application which had gone to appeal after being rejected over the proposed height of the development.
Barney Estates’ own website has two separate listings for the property at 114-120 Church Street, one commercial, one residential, and lists two different prices: £2million and £2.25million respectively, both lower than the amount cited in the newspaper advertisement.
The House of Reeves is Croydon’s oldest and largest furniture store and has been trading since 1867, when established by Edwin Reeves from the same building the business occupies today.
Five generations: the family-owned business is proud of its part in Croydon history
The company’s website states, “House of Reeves is still a family-owned furniture retailer, now in its fifth generation. There are no other companies in the area who are still run on a daily basis by the direct descendants of the original family and we are one of the few independent furniture retailers left in the south-east.
“Few will have missed the sight of our adjacent sister store being razed to the ground in the August 2011 riots. This highly publicised event has spurred us on, and we now have a fully refurbished surviving store, displaying a wide range of quality and affordable sofas, beds and furniture for the home.”
Inside Croydon approached Graham Reeves, one of the firm’s directors, about the possible sale of the company’s long-standing home, but he declined to comment.
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