Sir Norman Foster's glittering new headquarters for the Greater London

Authority effectively ushers in a new era for Bermondsey itself. Instead

of leather goods, spices, coffee and tea stored in brick warehouses,

mayors and assorted bureaucrats will be ensconced in a £20m riverside

property with glass lifts, a glazed facade, and meeting rooms with views

overlooking the river. The Thames is now for watching, not working, and

Bermondsey and its warehouses are well on the way to becoming

overwhelmingly residential.

Some residential pioneers set up home in SE1 as far back as the 1970s,

according to Tom Marshall of Cluttons Daniel Smith, but "this area only

recently started buzzing with architecturally pleasing residential and

commercial buildings, trendy restaurants and museums and galleries, such

as OXO Tower, Zandra Rhodes Fashion Museum, Conran's Gastrodome and Tate

Bankside."

Warehouse conversions and luxury new builds dominate the riverside area

along Shad Thames and extending from Tower Bridge eastward to St

Saviour's Dock. The multi-level penthouse atop the listed Anchor Brewery

is still seeking a buyer for £3.95m or a tenant for £3,500 per week.

Flats typically cost one tenth that selling price.

Elsewhere in Bermondsey other trendy new or converted flats vie for

attention in a mixed bag that includes a few period homes, high-

ceilinged school and church conversions, and live-work units in premises

that once housed tanners and other artisans and craftspeople.

New developments tend to offer parking, high-tech security, roof

terraces and leisure and fitness facilities. Nicholson's massive

Butler's & Colonial Wharf warehouse conversion includes new flats and

town houses on a site featuring underground parking, a gated enclosure

and a private courtyard.

Bermondsey is no longer the preserve of City financiers: "With this area

now more established and the Jubilee Line coming, creatives and media

who work in the West End are moving in. Access was previously too

difficult for them," says Carl Williams of Chesterton's. Bermondsey is

also attracting "empty nesters buying flats for their college-age

children, and executives wanting a weekend London base."

Mr Williams notes that most buyers "want a stylish flat ready for

immediate occupancy, so a ten-year-old flat neglected by tenant

occupiers and needing doing up will cost less."

The least expensive properties are council flats in buildings which have

been improved by the council, according to Roger Smith of Michael Kalmar

estate agents: "Devon Mansions, for example, is probably 50 per cent

privately owned now. Many owners are investors."

Matthew Page watched Bermondsey change for the better during his nine

years with estate agents Alex Neil: "The council estates have completely

changed, and the sense that they are dangerous is now a big myth.

Bermondsey is a real community with friendly people and some fantastic

characters."

Although some properties cost £1m plus, "I do not think there will be

huge jumps in prices," says Kalmar's Smith. Chesterton's Williams notes

that "since the new year, prices are starting to edge up again but buyer

and vendor expectations are well balanced."

ROBERT LIEBMAN

THE LOW-DOWN

Prices and Properties:

Think square feet rather than number of rooms. Chesterton's Mr Williams

notes that riverside flats can sell for £400 per square foot. Away from

the river, new build commands £275 per square foot, and you can save an

additional £25 per square foot with a two or three-year old flat in Boss

House. Shell apartments on approximately 1,000 square feet in Tyers

Gateway sell for £170-190,000. Bermondsey Exchange has larger units

(1180 to 1777 square feet) and steeper price tags (£260-295,000).

Berkeley's Saffron Wharf prices range from £435,000 to £615,000, and the

same developer's Jacobs Island, Mill Street starts at £129,500. Two-

bedroom ex-council flats in the Dickens Estate sell for £65,000 and can

be let for £200 per week, according to Mr Smith of Michael Kalmar.

Shell versus Finished:

A 750-square foot flat with balcony in Lantern House, Bermondsey Street

sells for £145,000 as a shell and £170,000 finished.

Transportation:

The Jubilee Line station will be at the junction of Jamaica Road and

Keeton's Road, in zone 2. London Bridge is zone 1.

The Council is Managing:

Bermondsey has a town centre manager, Tim Thompson, who says that, in

addition to attracting retailers, "mine is more of a regeneration

position to channel government and private funding into the area. We

have critical mass for residential, and what is needed now are more

services to support those residents." 0171 525 5422 Southwark council

tax is £524 for Band A and £1,573 for Band H.

Shopping and Dining:

Chesterton's Mr Williams notes that "the ground floors of many new

buildings here have restaurants or other retail outlets." Bermondsey's

restaurants (or their restaurateurs) are more famous than numerous.

"Bermondsey does not have as many, and probably never will have as many,

things going on as King's Road or Fulham Road," says Mr Smith.

Estate Agents:

Alex Neil 0171 234 0288; Cluttons Daniel Smith 0171 407 3669; Michael

Kalmar 0171 403 0600; Chesterton's 0171 357 7999. Butler's & Colonial

Wharf show apartment 07000 426566; selling agents are De Groot Collis

(0171 235 8090) and FDP Savills (0171 940 6500). Lynda Clark and Amanda

Heaps of specialist agency Trading Spaces handle only loft conversions

and other "weird, wonderful or unusual properties" in Bermondsey and

elsewhere. 0171 277 4994.

END