Chelsea Barracks Chelsea Barracks was a British Army barracks located in the City of Westminster , London , adjacent to Chelsea , on Chelsea Bridge Road . History . The barracks was originally built in the 1860s to house two battalion s of troops . The original Victorian buildings were a long and monotonous brick structure broken by towers in the centre . These buildings were replaced by two 13 - storey concrete tower blocks in the 1960s . The tower blocks were used to accommodate four companies from the Guards Regiments . A nail - bomb attack on the barracks by the Provisional Irish Republican Army in September 1981 killed two civilians . Development of the site . On 6 September 2005 Secretary of State for Defence , John Reid , announced that Chelsea Barracks would be sold . He described it as needing extensive renovations . The site was vacated in 2008 with the troops transferred to the Royal Artillery Barracks at Woolwich . The site was part of the Ministry of Defence ' s Project MoDEL that saw it and five other sites across London sold off , mainly for housing . Westminster City Council published its draft planning brief for the Chelsea Barracks site in September 2006 . It included a commitment to develop 50 % of the site with affordable housing . A Community Forum was established by local residents in April 2006 with the support of Secretary of State for Work and Pensions , John Hutton MP , to campaign for greater transparency in the sale of the barracks site and for the 50 % affordable homes commitment to be realised . 2007 sale . The barracks is in one of London ' s most expensive residential areas and was originally expected to sell for £250m . In April 2007 the Ministry of Defence agreed to sell Chelsea Barracks in its site for £959 million to a consortium consisting of Qatari Diar and the CPC Group . " The Times " reported that " The enclave , between Sloane Square and the River Thames , now has the unofficial title of Britain ’ s most expensive residential development site at £70 . 3m per acre . " On 1 February 2008 , the Joint Venture took possession of the site . Subsequently CPC ’ s interest in the Joint Venture company , Project Blue Ltd , was acquired by Qatari Diar which now owns 100 % of the site . Different design proposals for development of the site have been put forward by Richard Rogers and by Charles , Prince of Wales . Westminster City Council claim that the participation by the Prince has encouraged healthy public debate . Squire and Partners , with Dixon Jones and landscape designer Kim Wilkie , have been selected by Qatari Diar to create a master plan for Chelsea Barracks . 2009 withdrawal . In early June 2009 , the developers , Qatari Diar withdrew their plan to build 552 flats in 17 blocks . In May 2010 some of the developers made an £81m claim at the High Court , blaming Prince Charles for the withdrawal of a planning application . 2011 approval . Outline planning for nearly 600 luxury residential units on the 12 . 8 - acre site was eventually approved by Westminster Council in the Summer of 2011 . Following this approval , the developer did not progress with the development until early 2013 , when the whole project was put " under review " by Qatari Diar . 2013 development . In September 2013 , The Chelsea Barracks Partnership sent a letter to local residents informing them of plans to demolish all existing buildings on the Barracks site , with foundation works on the new scheme slated to start " in early November [ 2013 ] " .