Redevelopment of historic department store Morleys is a ‘slap in the face’

Residents said they have been left worried after a London council approved plans to turn a former department store into a 92-bedroom hotel.

Morleys, in Tooting, south London, shut its doors in April after their owners said they weren’t able to justify the cost of keeping it open.

Criterion Capital, a real estate company which has hotels in Piccadilly, Tottenham Court Road, Greenwich and Knightsbridge, applied in June for planning permission to convert the site into the hotel and three retail units.

The application received 28 objections from residents and businesses nearby, while more than 400 signed a petition against the redevelopment.

Despite objections from local residents, the application was approved last week at a planning committee meeting.

Residents have now hit out at the plans – and said they fear it will be converted into temporary housing instead.

Jack Gebhard, who lives nearby, told Metro: ‘Given the strength of feeling against this hotel its approval feels like another slap in the face for local residents.

‘We are already well-served for hotels here so you have to wonder where they’re going to get the demand from.’

In several objection comments, locals said they had ‘little trust that the site won’t be sold off once planning is granted and repurposed for alternative uses.’

Jack added: ‘Another site was granted planning permission to become a hotel nearby on the promise of serving the local hospital. But before a single guest was able to stay there, its use was changed.

‘Residents have zero confidence the same won’t happen here and who can blame them?’

Juliana Rayman, who worked at Morleys when it was known as Smith Bros, meanwhile welcomed the hotel and said she believes a lot of people will use it.

But she added that she feels more social housing is needed in the area.

She told Metro: ‘I thought they’d have an element of social housing, especially as housing costs have increased and the council house waiting list is several years-long for some people.’

She added she had noticed a change in the high street’s atmosphere.

‘I don’t know who the high street is aimed for now as there’s no community feeling,’ she said. ‘It’s soulless.’

One shopworker close to the former department store said: ‘We have complained to the council because this is a nice, safe area.

‘And if it is a migrant hotel, it might create issues.’

Ali Reed who runs music shop Dr Vinyl, and a traditional sweet shop, The Candy Cane Lounge, with her husband Darren, in Tooting Market, said it was ‘a nail in the Tooting coffin.’

She added: ‘Soon there will be no high street, no shops. If we want shops to survive we really do need to support them. Use us or lose us is what it comes down to, unfortunately.’

She said they have noticed a significant reduction in footfall and local customers since the nearby closures of Aldi, Poundland and Wilko.

‘People possibly shopping online is killing local businesses and many of my fellow traders are feeling the pinch which is why it’s important to support local traders.

‘Tooting has lost it’s vibrancy that it had when we set up business here eight years ago – it’s all very sad.’

But others welcomed the change, stating they would much rather the empty building be put to use.

A local charity shop worker said: ‘I think it’s really good as it could bring new businesses in.

‘It’s brilliant, we need something new other than barbers and chicken shops.

‘Anything is better than it being empty.’

Joe Kelly, who also lives nearby, said: ‘Obviously Morleys was closing anyway so while I think it would have been better to have flats put there, I’m not sure that was ever going to realistically happen.

‘So a hotel is better than it just sitting empty and nothing happening.’

As part of their application, Criterion Capital commissioned a survey of the area to see how it would benefit the area.

It found there is a strong demand for hotels in Tooting, and there’s been a six per cent increase in hotel rooms sold from 2017 to 2024.

A spokesperson for Wandsworth Council said: ‘Planning permission has been granted subject to conditions for the conversion of the Morley’s building to a mixed-use development with hotel accommodation and retail space.

‘This decision supports the Council’s commitment to revitalising underused buildings, promoting sustainable development, and enhancing the local economy.’

Criterion Capital was approached for comment.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.