Coming soon: £92m blockbuster at Kensington Odeon

PLANS to turn the Kensington Odeon cinema into a £92 million housing development have been given the go-ahead.

Developer Minerva has won final approval to build 35 apartments and five town houses as well as a multi-screen cinema complex under the site in Kensington High Street.

Council chiefs agreed the proposals on condition that Minerva, and its partner Northacre, also builds 30 affordable housing units within the royal borough.

Minerva, which bought the site for £24 million in 2005, revised its plans last year after film director Michael Winner led a successful campaign to save the Art Deco exterior from possible demolition.

The Department of Culture had ruled that the cinema, opened in 1925, could not have listed status because it had lost much of the original interior. Winner said today: "They are keeping a large amount of the fascia. As compromises go, it's as good as you could hope for." Minerva said it could not say when work might start.