Phoenix failure to rise from the ashes is costing Lambeth thousands
By Robert Firth, Local Democracy Reporter
A 10-storey office block that costs hundreds of thousands each year to maintain has been lying mostly empty for five years.
WeWork, which provides co-working space, was due to move into Phoenix House in Vauxhall, after Lambeth council staff vacated the offices in 2019. But the firm pulled out of the deal at the last minute due to financial difficulties.
Since then, the building, built in the early 2000s, has been for the most part abandoned. It was briefly used as office space, including for staff working on a compensation scheme for historical victims of abuse at Lambeth children’s homes.
Figures obtained through Freedom of Information requests made by financial transparency campaigners the People’s Audit show that the council spent £2.5 million on running expenses, including security, for Phoenix House between 2019 and 2021 which equates to around £833,000 a year.
Lambeth council says it faces a £34.3 million budget black hole this year.
Opposition Green councillor Scott Ainslie said the Labour-run council needed to explain why Phoenix House and other buildings in the north of the borough had remained empty for so many years.
Cllr Ainslie, leader of Lambeth’s Green Party group, said: “I think it’s in the public interest for people to know why we are sitting on a lot of these capital assets and not sweating them while the frontline is desperate for services.
“There is [an] obvious need for permanent health centres on Lower Marsh and on Lambeth Walk. That’s a failure of the administration to work with the NHS and meet the demand for these services.
“There’s a lot of pain across the borough. We’ve got a lot of assets we could be sweating, particularly in the high value north of the borough. And the administration is failing to be transparent and open about that or even give a justification as to why they are not maximising the income from these sites. It’s all cloak and daggers.”
Lambeth council said Phoenix House was vacated in 2019 as part of its award-winning New Town Hall scheme. The £68 million scheme saw the council downsize from 14 office buildings across the borough to just two in Brixton. In 2017, the council said the project would result in £4.5 million per year savings.
Lambeth took a 999-year lease on Phoenix House in 2004 and occupied the 63,000 sq. ft. building on Wandsworth Road from the following year.
A Lambeth council spokesman said: “The council has continued to actively market Phoenix House. We are seeking to ensure a deal that will generate income for the council, enable investment in the building, and allow Phoenix House to continue making a positive contribution in support of the local economy.”
Pictured top: Phoenix House in Vauxhall, which was vacated in 2019 (Picture: Robert Firth)