Demolition underway for new Aldi store
Demolition work is well underway at the former Homebase store in Kidbrooke which will become an Aldi supermarket.
Another unit will be located beside Aldi but the exact store has not been confirmed.
The site formerly housed a Homebase until that chain ran into trouble and embarked upon mass store closures.
Aldi and fellow German retailer Lidl are on a massive expansion drive – and this site will have thousands of new homes in the vicinity:
In some ways it is surprising the landowner has not embarked on mixed-use development with housing above the retail stores given the site is a short walk from Kidbrooke Zone 3 station 16 minutes from London Bridge.
Both Aldi and Lidl have recently announced their retail model is changing with an intention to build thousands of homes as well as new shops. That has not happened here.
The latest plan to do so is on the Old Kent Road where plans for a low rise shed on a Zone 1 site was rejected as under-utilising land in a housing shortage. They now plan to build 170 homes above and around a new store the same size as originally planned.
I was really surprised it was not a mixed retail and housing development. With Kidbrooke Village and KIdbrooke Station located very close by. I am sure Aldi and the other new store with both be great success and very much welcomed by the residents of Kidbrooke. I believe Aldi are hoping to open the new store around November or December.
Great
A waste not to build homes above the shops here. That means homes in inappropriate places elsewhere as targets still have to be met