Hackney Council claims it brought a disused building back to life as part of Zoë Garbett’s community wealth building campaign, but Labour says it proposed the idea
Hackney’s opposition group has cast doubt on the new Mayor’s claim to have repurposed an “empty” council building as part of her community wealth-building project.
On June 22, the council announced that Christopher Addison House, which had “stood largely empty for six years”, would be transformed into a new gym and fitness studio serving residents affected by the closure of King’s Hall Leisure Centre for a major refurbishment.
The council claimed this marks the first building to be “brought back to life as part of the Who Owns Hackney investigation”, a scheme Mayor Zoë Garbett launched soon after her electoral victory in May with the aim of reclaiming spaces for community benefit.
However, the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) has been told the plans pre-date the new administration. Speaking to the LDRS, a spokesperson for Hackney Labour group said: “We are aware of the Mayor’s investigation into buildings in Hackney, and welcome the Mayor’s support for our plans — discussed before the elections in May — to turn part of Christopher Addison House into a temporary gym.”
On Thursday (July 2) Mayor Garbett said: “While plans for a temporary gym were initiated previously, it is now being delivered by the new administration as a priority — a sign of our commitment to getting things done and showing how [our] investigation can repurpose spaces for public good.”
The Who Owns Hackney project, promised by the Greens in their manifesto, proposes an audit of land use in Hackney, a review of how the council’s own buildings are used and a “full assessment of options for bringing empty spaces back into use”.
Christopher Addison House, named after the former Shoreditch MP, was first built in 1993 and for many years used as one of the council’s offices. The building underwent significant refurbishment in 2019 to transform it into a “modern working environment” for 420 council staff, with plans to lease out remaining floors and generate at least £700,000 for the council.
However, the leasing faced significant delays and the council has only made limited use of the building from 2020. After the refurbishment of King’s Hall was signed off in 2025, the Labour administration pivoted to using the floors as a temporary facility for gym users.
In June, the council stated that the new centre will offer a gym, including free weights, resistance and aerobic equipment, as well as studio space for exercise classes, across three floors. The facility will be operated by Better and will open in early August.
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