Nine Elms has residential developments along the riverside, including Chelsea Bridge Wharf and Embassy Gardens, and also three large council estates: Carey Gardens, the Patmore Estate and the Savona.
History
Nine Elms Lane was named around the year 1645, from a row of elm trees bordering the road, though a path probably existed between York House and Vauxhall from the 1200s. In 1838, at the time of construction of the London and Southampton Railway, the area was described as "a low swampy district occasionally overflowed by the River Thames [whose] osier beds, pollards and windmille and the river give it a Dutch effect".[1]
Nine Elms railway station opened on 21 May 1838 as the first London terminus of the London & South Western Railway, (LSWR) which that day changed its name from the London & Southampton Railway. The neo-classical building was designed by William Tite. The station was connected to points between Vauxhall and London Bridge by Thames steam boats. It closed in 1848 when the railway was extended via the Nine Elms to Waterloo Viaduct to a new terminus at Waterloo (then called Waterloo Bridge). The redundant station and the adjacent area, to the north of the new main line, became the LSWR's carriage and wagon works and main locomotive works until their relocation to Eastleigh in 1909.[2] The company's largest locomotive depot was located on the south side of the main line. The buildings were damaged by bombs in World War II, and closed in 1967. They were demolished in 1968 and replaced by the flower section of the New Covent Garden Market.[3][4]
Vauxhall Motors was formed in 1857 by Scottish engineer Alexander Wilson at Nine Elms, originally as Alex Wilson and Company, before moving to Luton in 1907. There was a plaque commemorating the site of the original factory at the Sainsbury's Nine Elms petrol station on Wandsworth Road which has now been demolished and replaced with a new Sainsbury's superstore and high rise apartments as part of the current Nine Elms regeneration.
On 16 February 2012, Wandsworth Council approved Ballymore Group's plans for a 15-acre development. Embassy Gardens is set to provide "up to 1,982 new homes alongside shops, cafes, bars, restaurants, business space, a 100 bed hotel, a health centre, children's playgrounds and sports pitches".[8] In 2014, it was reported that Ballymore had engaged Lazard and CBRE Group to raise about €2.5bn to fund the Embassy Gardens development.[9]
Regeneration of the area around Battersea Power Station started in 2013, with the power station structure secured by 2016.[10][11] The Power Station building opened in October 2022. It contains shopping and leisure facilities, office space and housing.[12] To service the area, Nine Elms tube station, on the London Underground, opened in September 2021, as part of an extension of the Northern line from Kennington.[13]
Previously a part of Queenstown Ward, in 2022 Nine Elms ward was created, represented on Wandsworth Council by two councillors. The next local election is scheduled to take place in May 2026.
In 2015, Wandsworth council chose a design by Bystrup for a £40m pedestrian bridge between Nine Elms and Pimlico,[15][16][17] although as of 2021 there are no firm plans to construct this.