EcoWorld to launch new BTR platform
The founders of developer EcoWorld London are set to launch a BTR company called Apo, targeting 5,000 homes under management in five years.
EcoWorld International and Willmott Dixon are creating the residential management company to help international institutional partners access residential investments in London at scale.
The end-to-end service will help investors in sourcing investment opportunities, supporting design and development, through to leasing and long-term management of rental communities.
The founders of developer EcoWorld London are set to launch a BTR company called Apo, targeting 5,000 homes under management in five years.
EcoWorld International and Willmott Dixon are creating the residential management company to help international institutional partners access residential investments in London at scale.
The end-to-end service will help investors in sourcing investment opportunities, supporting design and development, through to leasing and long-term management of rental communities.
Its first schemes will be the 1,100 homes at EcoWorld London’s BTR sites at Kew Bridge (pictured) and Barking, funded by Invesco, which are both due to complete this year. It aims to grow the business nationally with a goal for 10,000 homes under management in the next 10 years.
Apo aims to partner with investors, developers and service providers. It is currently in talks with a number of developers, focusing on expansion in London initially, with the regions to follow.
The company is being led by Matthew Pullen as chief executive. He has been chief operating officer of EcoWorld for the last two years. Apo is also currently recruiting for senior roles ahead of its launch this year.
Pullen said: “From discussions with investors we believe the key constraint they face is in finding the right local management partners, and we believe that Apo’s approach is unique in combining the proactive day-to-day management that they need with the ability to drive returns through a real understanding of what residents want in terms of service, amenity and community.
“Our projects to date have demonstrated appetite from institutional investors, and as we emerge from the Covid-19 crisis the case for residential investment in London has never been stronger.”
EcoWorld International is a Malaysian listed developer which entered the UK in 2015 and has expanded globally, largely through joint ventures.
In 2018, the company took a 70% stake in Willmott Dixon’s Be Living business, which it rebranded as EcoWorld London. The company specialises in for sale and BTR development. That year it agreed a £400m deal for the Kew and Barking sites, and it is currently on the hunt for investor partners for pipeline projects.
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