Argent Related seeks £300m for BTR pair

Argent Related is launching a hunt for £300m in investment for 900 build-to-rent homes across two major regeneration projects in north and west London. The company will seek finance for 400 homes in phase two of Tottenham Hale, N17, (main picture) and 500 homes in the first phase of Brent Cross Town, NW4. Argent Related is already on site with the first phase of the £500m Tottenhale Hale scheme, which it is delivering as part of a strategic development partnership with Haringey Council.  At Brent Cross Town, BTR will make up half of the homes in the first phase of the 6,700-home project as part of a joint venture with Barnet Council. The developer has already been approached by funders, but is expected to bring the opportunities to market next month in separate raises, both to conclude this year. Argent Related is also understood to be in advanced discussions with an investment partner for its debut scheme at the Triangle Site on York Way, King’s Cross (pictured below). The scheme comprises 218 BTR homes in two towers of up to 17 storeys and will be the only rental at the 67-acre King’s Cross Estate. Argent Related is developing the site in partnership with the King’s Cross Central Limited Partnership, the freeholder of the King’s Cross Estate. This brings together pension fund AustralianSuper, clients of the international business of Federated Hermes and Argent investors. Argent Related has appointed Midgard as contractor for the build, with completion set for 2023. The BTR will offer a residential fitness centre, screening room, dining area retail and a creche, with further retail, restaurants and leisure amenities nearby. Google and Facebook have offices in the vicinity, and the developer anticipates renter demand from young professionals. The scheme will be the first in a £2bn pipeline of some 3,000 BTR homes across the three sites. Argent Related will seek to retain a stake in the assets. The BTR launch comes over five years since the two joined forces to establish Argent Related. The platform draws together the mixed-use regeneration skills of Argent and the operational experience of Related, which looks after 75,000 rental homes in the US. Tom Goodall, partner and head of residential at Argent Related, told EG: “Over the years Argent has established itself as an accomplished mixed-use regeneration transformation specialist. “In a commercial sense, we’ve always had a goal to hold onto as many assets as we can. In the residential, historically, we’ve had a sale model. When we created Argent Related that was one of the things we wanted to do differently.” Argent Related will launch its own branded BTR operational platform and will bring over senior roles from Related in the US to support this. At the moment BTR comprises almost half of the developer’s 8,000-home pipeline. Ken Wong, chief operating officer of Related Companies, said in a statement: “When we started our new company in 2015, one of our foundational commitments was to bring Related’s industry-leading BTR platform, long pre-eminent in New York City, Boston, Chicago and San Francisco, to London.” He added that the Triangle Site will showcase this platform and decades-long expertise. Accelerated development When Argent Related launched, the business set a target to develop 500 to 1,000 BTR homes a year. Goodall says it is on track to start hitting that target next year and has a pipeline to maintain that level of development for at least a further decade. In bringing forward BTR in the earlier phases of development, Argent Related will be able to accelerate the delivery timelines. “It allows us to build more in a shorter time in the first phase and it allows us to establish a critical mass of community,” says Goodall. “You are no longer pegged by the absorption rates of a particular product.” He adds that at King’s Cross, Argent was able to quickly transform the site with the university building, which brought 5,000 students into the area. “Our overarching goal is the creation of a new part of town in London. At Brent Cross it’s just a different way of doing that. We want to bring people, authentic real life into the town and take it away from CGIs and into real life, as quickly as you possibly can.” That attention to mixed-use development will be what differentiates Argent Related’s BTR from any other brand, says Goodall. He added: “We are committed in the long-term to the rental platform. We are investing in starting up our own operations platform and we have a long-term relationship through Argent Related. “We have no upper limit of where we would like to take this and we have the expertise and the capital backing us now to achieve.”   To send feedback, e-mail emma.rosser@eg.co.uk or tweet @EmmaARosser or @EGPropertyNews Images © Argent Related