THE first phase of housing on the prime Ruskin Square development site next to East Croydon Station could be completed early in 2015.
Developers Stanhope/Schroders revealed the timetable when they presented their pre-application scheme to a meeting of the council's strategic planning committee last Thursday.
The scheme involves providing 161 homes – a mixture of one and two- bedroom flats – in a 22-storey tower and an attached nine-storey plinth development.
Stanhope/Schroders already have outline planning permission for the overall Ruskin Square development comprising 550 homes and 1m sq ft of offices on the site.
Thursday's meeting gave councillors the chance to comment on the scheme before a formal application is submitted.
Concerns raised at the meeting included the amount of affordable and disabled accommodation in the building; the mix of flats; ways of alleviating disturbance from the railway to homes closest to it and security of the area around the building.
The developers will be asked to address the issues when they bring the proposals back as part of an application.
Councillor Jason Perry, the council's cabinet member for planning, who chaired the meeting, said: "I think members were fairly happy with what was being put forward. There was some concern about the amount of affordable homes but they will make up 20 per cent of the development, which meets our criteria."
A spokesman for Stanhope/Schroders said the intention, following the meeting, was to submit an application within the next four to six weeks.
If the go-ahead was given, it was hoped that work on building the block would be completed in the spring of 2015.
