Covent Garden Market kicks off partner search

The Covent Garden Market Authority (CGMA), which runs the largest fresh-produce market in the UK, is understood to have called in advisers to help find a private-sector partner for the £1bn scheme to redevelop its 57-acre site.

The government body has called in KPMG, Drivers Jonas Deloitte, and Eversheds to oversee the process of securing a development partner for the site in Nine Elms, south London. Work started on a planning application to modernise the market in September. The CGMA held two public exhibitions to provid more information about the application, which could be submitted to Wandsworth Borough Council in the next few months.

The new market will be called "The Garden" and provide up to 540,000 sq ft of trading space. The CGMA called in Foster & Partners and Neil Tomlinson Architects to draw up the plans for the site, which the market has occupied for 35 years. This is one of a number of major redevelopments in Nine Elms including the new American embassy.