Amazon swoops on BTR site in last-mile logistics play

Amazon has bought a former retail park in Mill Hill for a new last-mile logistics hub in London, derailing plans for a £300m build-to-rent development. The online retail giant fended off competition from residential developers for the former Pentavia Retail Park in Mill Hill, NW7, paying £65m to Meadow Residential for the nine-acre site. The site received consent for 844 rental homes last year from London mayor Sadiq Khan, who called in the scheme stressing the “potential to make an important contribution to housing”. This had followed refusal from Barnet Council, which said the high-density residential scheme would be overdevelopment of the site. Amazon has begun pre-application discussions with Barnet Council ahead of a fresh planning application. Retail warehousing in London has enjoyed heightened popularity in recent times from investors as potential last-mile delivery locations. Several market sources have said the site’s location and its proximity to chimney pots could make a compelling case for a new multi-storey distribution facility. Meadow Residential was set up by Peter Bennison, the former head of Hadley Property Group, with financial backing from Meadow Partners, a privately owned investment manager. It focuses on residential development opportunities around London. The developer acquired the site in 2013. It lodged plans for a residential scheme in 2016, with plans subsequently withdrawn and re-lodged twice. Barnet Council refused the scheme in 2018, but it was called in by the London mayor and approved after boosts to the proportion of affordable homes. As the outer boroughs face sliding residential values, housebuilders and even BTR investors are increasingly losing out to logistics investors buoyed by rising e-commerce sales. To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@egi.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @estatesgazette