Marks & Spencer’s plans to demolish and rebuild its flagship London store have sparked controversy.
Concerns about carbon emissions from bulldozing the building prompted Minister Michael Gove to order a review of the proposal.
Now, landlords are warning that delaying the plans could jeopardise Oxford Street’s appeal to investors as a place of national economic importance.
M&S stated that the redesign was necessary due to changing consumer habits.
It intends to renovate the property with a smaller shop, offices, and a gym.
However, Mr Gove’s intervention hampered the plan for the 100-year-old Art Deco store at Marble Arch.
M&S said earlier this week that the Levelling Up Secretary’s planning review had left it “confused.”
In a letter sent to Mr Gove on Friday, landlords and property investors expressed their “major concern” that the decision would undermine “the appeal of the West End as an international centre.”
They claimed that the West End, where the M&S store is located, attracts major investors and that flagship stores in London help support “marginal stores in other British towns and cities.”
Sir Peter Rogers, chairman of the New West End Company, which represents retailers and hoteliers, signed the letter. It was also signed by real estate investors such as Royal London Asset Management.
