HOPES are high that the crucial compulsory purchase order (CPO) inquiry into the Westfield/Hammerson Partnership plans to redevelop the Whitgift Centre will be held before Christmas.
The hoped-for target date was revealed by John Burton, Westfield's director of development, at a meeting on Tuesday organised by Croydon North MP, Steve Reed looking at how Croydon had moved forward in the three years since the riots.
The CPO inquiry will decide finally on the transfer of ownership of the various leases in the centre to the Partnership and how much it should pay to leaseholders.
The Partnership needs to get the go ahead to complete all those negotiations before it can start work on the £1 billion project which will provide 1.5 million square feet of retail space plus leisure facilities restaurants and hundreds of new homes.
Mr Burton said if the inquiry approved the transfer, it was hoped a firm timetable for development would be ready in May next year.
It is still hoped the new centre will be open by the end of 2017 or early in 2018.
