IN Brief:
- The main package is valued at approximately £222m excluding VAT, including pre-construction services.
- An optional £100m refurbishment of 130 Jermyn Street would take the combined potential value to £322m.
- Requests to participate close on 19 November, with the planned main contract running from June 2027 to January 2031.
The Crown Estate is inviting contractors to compete for the main works on the second phase of St James’s Market in London’s West End. The proposed principal package is valued at approximately £222m excluding VAT, with a separate £100m option to refurbish 130 Jermyn Street taking the potential overall scope to £322m.
The proposed development includes about 312,500 square feet of net internal Category A office accommodation, from two basement levels to level seven, around the retained Grade II listed Carlton Cinema on Haymarket. The cinema, also known through its later operation as the Empire Cinema, is to receive shell-and-core refurbishment. New retail space and improvements to surrounding pedestrian areas form part of the same main works package.
The contractor will also deliver new UK Power Networks substations, landscaping and public realm works. A separately procured demolition contract is to be novated to the successful main contractor, which will also maintain a watching brief over demolition activity. This arrangement joins preliminary demolition and later construction responsibilities without treating them as the same procurement package.
The competition uses a competitive flexible procedure, and requests to participate must be received by 5pm GMT on 19 November 2026. The Crown Estate expects to shortlist up to four participants, with subsequent interviews, site visits, negotiations and final offers informing the award. A main contractor has not yet been selected, and neither the core package nor the optional additional works constitutes a completed contract award.
The proposed route begins with a pre-construction services agreement and moves to an amended JCT Design and Build 2024 contract for the principal construction phase. Early work under that structure can develop buildability, construction sequencing and pricing around retained fabric and the separate demolition package before the main contract is finalised. The eventual contractor will also need to coordinate interfaces with suppliers responsible for specialist systems.
The indicative delivery period runs from June 2027 to January 2031, with an extension option that could take the programme into January 2033. The extra period is linked to the optional works at 130 Jermyn Street, which may involve shared mechanical and electrical plant. Contract dates are subject to the competition and any subsequent instruction of the optional package.
Make Architects designed the scheme, with AKT II providing structural engineering and Gardiner & Theobald acting as project manager and cost consultant. The city-centre block sits between Regent Street and Haymarket and includes an existing cinema within the planned office development. Retention of a listed building makes the connection between new floors, servicing routes and older construction a key element of design coordination.
Building around the cinema requires a construction sequence that protects retained walls, structural fabric and architectural features while new elements are built nearby. Temporary support and movement monitoring may be needed where demolition, excavation and new foundations affect existing structures. Those methods will depend on detailed surveys and the contractor’s eventual engineering proposals, rather than being fixed by the headline tender description.
The cinema refurbishment is described as shell and core, covering the retained building structure and essential systems rather than a fully specified occupier fit-out. New retail accommodation is likewise intended to be delivered at shell-and-core stage. The division of responsibility between the developer’s base construction and later tenant fit-out will inform service connections, fire safety interfaces and access requirements.
New electricity substations are included to support the development’s infrastructure needs. Their placement affects plant-room space, equipment access, cabling routes and commissioning alongside the building’s other mechanical and electrical systems. The final capacity and connection arrangements will require agreement through the appropriate utility and project design processes.
The Crown Estate has identified sustainability and heritage retention as priorities in its wider St James’s Market plans. Reworking an established block allows retained fabric to sit beside the new offices and commercial areas, but specific embodied-carbon savings and eventual environmental ratings cannot be assumed before the design, construction and assessment work is complete.
The next confirmed step is the 19 November deadline for participation requests, followed by shortlisting and competitive procurement. The £222m base scope covers a defined main works programme, whereas the additional £100m remains an option. The timetable and final construction responsibilities will depend on which contractor is selected and whether the 130 Jermyn Street work is instructed.
