A £1.5m luxury shopping district now lies abandoned with empty buildings, smashed windows and graffiti as locals claim that the plan was always going to fail.
Hackney Walk was paid for by City Hall in the wake of riots in 2011 which caused severe damage to neighbourhoods throughout London.
High-end brands such as Gieves and Hawkes, Zadig and Voltaire, Matches, Present, Nicole Farhi, and Nike all moved in but after opening in 2016, within the next couple of years most of these brands had left.
And now with only one shop, Present, remaining many residents say they could see it happening, reported MyLondon.
Then London mayor, Boris Johnson, announced £70 million would be invested in regeneration projects in parts of the capital worst affected by the 2011 riots and Hackney saw £1.5m allocated to build a fashion hub on Morning Lane, aiming to rival Bicester Village in Oxfordshire.
Taking over railway arches that were filled with car garages, they were displaced with Hackney Walk built encompassing new-refurbished units and two multi-storey buildings.
Paul Mackenzie, 52 grew up on Penbury Estate and knew local businesses such as Danny's Garage that had to move out of the railway arches to make way for the new development.
"They [developers] thought because the Burberry Factory outlet was there, they could bring other shops like that here. We all loved the Burberry Factory back in the day, it was different and was a place for us to get nice, high-end fashion," he said.
"When they told us they were going to build fancy shops under the arches, we couldn't believe it. There's gentrification then there's stupidity. We had no idea where they thought these imaginary customers were going to come from and all it did was price out really good people doing good, honest trade.
"It's such a waste. Anyone with eyes could have told you it wasn't going to work. Gentrification in Hackney is real but this wasn't for the people of Hackney who could have done with that investment."
After a person posted a picture on Twitter of the current site with no apparent shops, it attracted a wave of comments.
One person wrote: "I have NEVER set foot in any of these shops for the last twelve years. Oh, how the money could have been better spent on local residents. The irony is that this was built right after the 2011 riots, quite close to where the looting was happening in Mare Street. The irony of building luxury shops right next to places where poor, working-class communities live."
"I think it was a bit of a contradiction to replace the local Hackney industries under the arches with high-end fashion retailers. I get “regeneration” but it was almost a kick in the face and “punishment” for the crimes of the riots towards existing residents."
Luke Billingham, a youth worker and Hackney local said: "Hackney Walk has been a very bad joke from start to finish. An instructive omnishambles for just how bad "regeneration" can get."
Many argued at the time that the money spent on the Hackney Walk would be better used to serve the local community.
The site is currently leased by Lab-C Estate Ltd, a Guernsey-based property company who are currently in liquidation. The Arch Company inherited the Lab-C Estate lease when it took on the overall ownership of the site after buying Network Rail’s commercial estate in 2019.
A spokesperson for The Arch Company, reported MyLondon, said: "The current leaseholder Lab C-Estate Ltd is in liquidation. We are working to regain control of the units so that we can bring them back into productive use. We look forward to working with the council to do so.”
A Hackney Council spokesperson said: “We share the concerns about the impact the now-empty Hackney Walk units are having on the neighbourhood and wider town centre.
“The Council does not own or manage these arches, but we are clear about the need for them to be brought back into use for the benefit of the local community. We understand that The Arch Company is in the process of regaining control of the arches from the current leaseholders, and have been clear that we’re ready and willing to work with them to ensure any plans brought forward reflect the interests of the community.
“The Council recently secured £19m from the government’s levelling up fund for Hackney Central, a component of which will be to help bring empty spaces back into use. We’re looking forward to continuing discussions with residents, businesses, organisations and landlords to shape how some of this investment can ensure facilities like these better serve the community and the wider town centre."
The Mirror contacted Hackney Council for comment.
