Boxpark Croydon launched on Wednesday (Oct 26) with founder Roger Wade declaring it was the beginning of something special for the borough.
The new Boxpark pop-up mall – the venue for lunch at Develop Croydon’s Placemaking Croydon Conference on November 22 – is a unique leisure and dining-out destination with independent street food-style retailers side by side with global brands next to East Croydon Station.
“This is a revolutionary, world class development and a catalyst for change in Croydon,” Mr Wade told guests at the sparkling launch event. “It’s the beginning of something special – it’s a building for Croydon. This is your Boxpark.”
Boxpark Croydon is Mr Wade’s latest pop-up mall – his first was the highly successful Boxpark retail mall which opened in Shoreditch five years ago. The Croydon mall is intended to be an all day and late-night destination with 80 shipping containers hosting restaurants, bars, and takeaways offering a wide range of cuisine and leisure time activities.
Mr Wade told the launch night guests, “Someone asked me, ‘Why are you going to Croydon?’ and I said, ‘Why not Croydon? And look at it now!’ I always felt like south London was neglected but our time is now. This is the beginning of something special – it’s a building for Croydon. It’s your Boxpark.”
The launch event was attended by business and political leaders, including the Mayor of Croydon, Cllr Wayne Trakas Lawlor; Croydon Council Leader, Cllr Tony Newman; Croydon Deputy Mayor, Cllr Toni Letts; and Croydon Council Chief Executive, Jo Negrini.
Cllr Newman told guests at the launch that central Croydon was set to become south London’s answer to Southbank. He said the opening the opening of Boxpark, together with the council’s major College Green redevelopment of the Fairfield Halls, proved Croydon is “London’s growth borough.”
“Local people and local companies are a huge part of the success of Boxpark, and this is generating growth for the people, the citizens of Croydon, which they can all benefit from,” he said.
For more information about Develop Croydon’s seventh annual conference, Placemaking Croydon, on Tuesday, November 22, click here. Network with and hear from Croydon’s key decision makers and take part in investor tours highlighting the opportunities being created in Croydon.