Tooting is rapidly becoming the place to be.
It was crowned one of the top 10 coolest neighbourhoods in the world last year by Lonely Planet.
At the centre of this buzz is the revamped Tooting Market which most recently built a new hall.
An extension to the 80-year-old site, an area called the Yard Market, has just been completed providing a home for 14 new shops and restaurants plus a gym.
It was first opened in July but is now almost complete – as pictured above – with every shop up and running and just a mezzanine area, for new bar Poptata, to be finished.
Market operator Roi Mengelgrein, 41, said: “When I arrived here it was dodgy, it was dangerous.
“It was an uphill battle to rejuvenate the market.
“When I started to work on this market people kept saying are you guys the next Brixton?
“They’re bigger than us, we’re our own individual market.”
He added: “We’re not looking to turn this into a boxpark. They’re not a local market.”
Tanya De Afonseca, 38, owns packaging-less shop Bring Your Own in the new Yard Market.
She was optimistic about Tooting Market’s redevelopment, saying: “There’s a huge shift.
“People are doing more shopping and drinking locally.
“It’s a cool, diverse bunch of humans. I hope it continues.”
REDEVELOPED: Before the market redevelopment
However, the market is still in danger from Crossrail 2 proposals, which could see the new line using the site for ventilation.
Mr Mengelgrein said: “Until we get a 100% rubber stamped letter to say that the market is no longer under threat, anything’s possible.
“This would be shooting the community in the soul and in the heart.”
