Greystar Real Estate Partners and Henderson Park have exchanged contracts with Tide Construction to acquire a 550-apartment residential development at 101 George St. in Croydon, London.
On completion, the development will comprise two of the world’s tallest towers built using modular construction, at 44-stories and 38-stories.
The site has full planning permission and the transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018.
“101 George Street is a strategically significant deal for Greystar and helps us move closer to our target of delivering 10,000 multifamily units in London by 2022,” said Mark Allnutt, Greystar managing director, UK. “It also means that, when operational, we will have large-scale multifamily developments in four areas of London – Greenford in West London, Sailmakers in East London, Nine Elms in central London and now Croydon in south London.”
This is the second investment Henderson Park and Greystar have made in joint venture into the London residential Private Rented Sector (PRS), following their £140.5 million ($197 million) acquisition of a 172-unit Central London residential portfolio from Barratt Developments in March last year.
101 George St. will be developed using modular construction, a method providing a much faster alternative to traditional construction without compromising on the quality of the building or the versatility of the design. Modules are constructed offsite in a controlled manufacturing environment to ensure a higher quality finish, with 80 percent less waste, fewer onsite workers and greater certainty on costs and time. The modules will be shipped from a factory in Bedford with the electricity prewired and plumbing, furniture and windows already installed. The total build time for the project will take just 24 months, from construction starting to residents moving in to their new homes.
101 George Street is the fourth project Greystar and Tide Construction have delivered using this method and, once complete, will bring the total number of units the partnership has delivered in London to 1,700 units.
Croydon is one of the largest commercial districts outside central London, with an extensive shopping district and night-time economy. The borough has recently emerged as one of the fastest growing areas out of 173 U.K. regions, with an annual growth rate of 9.3 percent, and has been dubbed the “Silicon Valley of South London” due to the high number of tech companies and startup businesses operating locally.
On Nov. 14, Croydon Council voted unanimously to approve plans for a £1.4 billion ($1.8 billion) regeneration scheme, anchored by a new Westfield and Hammerson shopping center, that will deliver more than 1.5 million square feet of retail and leisure space. The plans were approved by the Mayor of London in January 2018 and construction work is scheduled to commence in 2019. The new shopping center is at the heart of around £5.25 billion ($738 billion) of planned major investments into Croydon which include 2 million square feet of new class A office space, new residential developments and eight hotels, as well as Croydon Council’s infrastructure improvement program; all helping drive new residents, visitors and businesses to the town center.
Nick Weber, Founding Partner of Henderson Park, commented: “This significant acquisition provides us with further critical mass in London’s residential PRS market. Croydon has a long history as a strong business, retail, leisure and residential destination and the town is currently enjoying a real renaissance driven by £5.25 billion of inward investment and infrastructure works. This programme of investment will further increase demand for homes and 101 George Street, with its fast modular building methods, will provide much needed supply across all levels of affordability. We are also very pleased to be working with Greystar again and combining our team’s experience with one of the world’s leaders in rented housing.”
