Riverside Court, an Overview

Long term Riverside Court residents must be rubbing their hands in glee at this riverside location. This 1980’s a residential development of 96 flats is superbly located overlooking the River Thames and while many other developments are springing up around it, the three ivy covered buildings that make up Riverside Court benefit from being on a plot that cannot be usurped or crowded out by neighbouring buildings ensuring privacy and exclusivity remain key benefits of living here.

With many apartments boasting river views and private parking spaces, Riverside Court was a development that recognised the potential of an, until now, rather underwhelming area. However with Nine Elms being touted as the largest and most hotly anticipated development to happen in modern day London, Riverside Court residents will surely reap the benefits of buying early and believing in the future of this long neglected, Central London, riverside district.

A History of Riverside Court

Riverside Court was constructed in the early 1980s and designed by architectural firm Henry Boot plc. This award winning company has operated for over 125 years and has grown into one of the most successful British engineering companies and it’s work included the world famous Pinewood Film Studios.

The area of Nine Elms itself is no stranger to development and has for many centuries seen its usage develop. Originally named after Nine Elm trees that grew in the area, the surrounding land was very much just a series of marshes and rivulets which were not developed until the arrival of Nine Elms Station in the mid 1800’s. This saw the immediate area become increasingly industrialised although Nine Elms Pier had existed for many years to bring People to the Vauxhall Pleasure Gardens now it was also being used to help ship produce from the nearby Glassworks and Price’s Candle Factory.

While the railway station closed some years later, industry continued. Farmiloes & Sons who developed paints, owned a metal-works and produced sanitary ware had offices in Pimlico and a factory in Nine Elms saw their business boom, (actually quite literally as a number of their factories strangely went up in flames!) as home ownership grew and their ‘Nine Elms’ white lead paint was a popular household brand in the 1920’s as were their colours ‘Father Thames’ & ‘Blackfriars’ which thankfully were lead-free.

Living & Investing In Riverside Court

Riverside Court was arguably the first prestigious development on this area of the Southbank and although it has taken some years for other developers to follow suit, the regeneration of the Nine Elms should see Riverside Court purchasers reaping the rewards of their investment.

Made of 96 apartments the development is a functional mix of one, two and three bedroom flats attracting both long term owner-occupiers and a shorter term lettings market. Overseas investors have long sought to purchase within Riverside Court with a view to using it as both a Central London holiday residence and also a practical, more permanent home for their children studying in London.

With many of the properties benefitting from river views, and yet with many flats having seen a number of owners and therefore potentially in need of updating, Riverside Court offers an opportunity to own prime property in a fantastic location at very competitive prices. While other new developments may boast box-fresh carpets and ultra-modern fittings such cosmetic details are merely that, cosmetic. Riverside Court offers generously proportioned rooms with layouts that promote an intimacy and cosiness that many new developments lack.

Typical one bedroom apartments are about 730 sq ft with three bedrooms being around 1300sqft. Parking comes with many of flats though the new Nine Elms Station as an extension of the Northern Line and Vauxhall underground and mainline station being a short walk away means that any part of London is accessed easily and the area itself is seeing a regeneration that will mean living locally is the envy of visitors and guest; as businesses, galleries, restaurants and bars and green spaces develop around you as the newest and trendiest part of London will actually be on your doorstep.

Riverside Court & Beyond

Right by the river and sharing airspace with the gulls are not the only attractions in a home like this. Riverside Court is in the midst of one of London’s most significant regeneration areas throwing off its old commercial image for that of a new residential riverside quarter. The river walk which once stopped just beyond Riverside Court will now extend all the way to Battersea providing a car-free, care-free pedestrian zone taking you into Battersea Park in the South; of course you can also walk the other way and enjoy wandering along the river for over 20 miles until you reach the Cutty Sark in Greenwich.

If this all sounds too arduous, the development of the Linear Park behind Riverside Court and the development of shops and restaurants around Vauxhall, Battersea Power Station and the U.S. Embassy means that Riverside Court is never more than a few minutes away from the essentials in life whether it be open green spaces, a reliable transport system, cultural activities or just a shop selling pints of milk and fresh bread.

The theatres of the West End and designer shops in Chelsea are a mere taxi ride over the river, though a new pedestrian and cycling bridge will make even these journey’s a mere, well-heeled, walk away.

For those seeking more diverse activities while London’s regeneration may transform the appearance of neighbourhoods it in turn also provides new avenues to explore like the back streets of Vauxhall that boast little known galleries and of course the slightly better known Mecca-to-art, the Damien Hirst Gallery.

Independent shops can still very much be found in nearby Putney, Fulham, Marylebone and Bermondsey with each area boasting a mezze of new fashionable restaurants and old favourites. Restaurant and nightclub; Bunga Bunga still attracts queues come Friday nights in Battersea, and Chiltern Firehouse in Marylebone is still the celebrity hotspot. Though as Nine Elms attracts more and more savvy investors, Riverside Court may well find itself the place where everyone wants to be when it comes to resting ones head after living London’s nightlife at full throttle.