The Peel Group aims to overhaul around 26 acres of brownfield land and deliver 1.9 million square feet of commercial space, including large areas of office space available to rent.
The scheme has been dubbed Chatham Waters, and Peel’s current estimates suggest it would attract roughly £650 million in direct investment and could create as many as 3,500 jobs in the area.
In addition to offices to rent, the redeveloped site would include a hotel, residential properties, landscaped public areas, and education facilities if local authorities in Chatham give it the go-ahead.
Peel showcased its plans for the area and polled local residents, with 95 per cent reportedly convinced the project would give Chatham a worthwhile boost. Peel said nine in ten of those asked supported the scheme.
“The feedback we received at the public consultation was invaluable, and we are very pleased that so many people were supportive of our plans for Chatham Waters,” said James Whittaker, Peel’s development director.
“We have taken the comments received on board and are pleased to have submitted a planning application to the council.”
The Peel Group is heavily involved in some of the most expansive redevelopment initiatives currently underway or at the planning stage in different parts of the UK. The Liverpool and Wirral Waters projects are among the most ambitious, with 650 acres of dockside land set to be transformed at a cost of up to £10 billion over the next 30 to 40 years.
Another of the company’s schemes has made new Grade A office space available to rent in Salford via the MediaCityUK scheme in Salford Quays in Greater Manchester.
Editor’s notes: Chatham Waters is located at the mouth of the Medway Waterfront Peninsula in Kent and includes the regeneration of a 26-acre former historic naval dockyard.
The scheme, located 40 minutes from Central London, includes plans for 950 new residential dwellings and a new waterfront boulevard with bars, restaurants, and specialist shops, delivered over four phases and promoting an al-fresco cafe society.
As of July 2023, the X1 Chatham Waters residential tower was complete and offered approximately 200 one-, two-, and three-bedroom luxury apartments.
A 73,000-square-foot Asda superstore had been delivered on the site in 2015.
The next development phase planned office space, event space, other commercial spaces, and additional residential units.
In May 2024, Medway Council approved Peel’s plans to redevelop the Chatham Docks industrial estate into a new employment and enterprise campus.
In February 2026, it was reported that Peel Waters had submitted plans to demolish four warehouses as part of wider plans to redevelop Chatham Docks.
The four buildings covered circa half a million square feet.
It was reported in May 2026 that the 75-bed Chatham Waters Care Home would start accepting residents in the summer
The care home is part of the larger Peel Waters scheme to redevelop the Chatham Docks area, which was approved in 2021, along with 300 homes.