More than 450 homes are to built in the Nine Elms regeneration area after a planning application was approved last week.

The new Marco Polo House development will provide more than more than 1,200 square metres of commercial space for new shops, cafes, restaurants and offices.

The site, located on Queenstown Road to the east of Battersea Park, was granted approval at a Wandsworth Council planning meeting on Thursday.

A new pedestrian walkway will run through the development alongside a public garden, public courtyard and outdoor children’s play areas.

Sixty-eight apartments will be made available to local first-time-buyers through a shared ownership scheme.

Wandsworth Council’s planning chairman, Councillor Nick Cuff, said: “Nine Elms has begun to transform on an enormous scale. Building work is already underway on several major schemes and more planning applications will soon be coming forward."

The Nine Elms and Vauxhall opportunity area includes 450 acres of land where up to 16,000 new homes and 25,000 new jobs will be created.

Works are also underway on the site of the new US Embassy which is expected to open in Nine Elms in 2017.

The area also includes Battersea Power Station which has planning permission for more than 4,000 new homes and a new town centre development.