Platform_ buys Milton Keynes site for £100m scheme

Platform_ has bought Bank House in Milton Keynes for a £100m build-to-rent and office scheme. The BTR investor, developer and operator plans to submit an application to redevelop the office block at 171 Midsummer Boulevard, which was previously owned by Hermes Properties. The development, Platform_’s 12th, will bring its pipeline to more than £1bn and 3,750 homes. It is targeting a BREEAM Excellent rating for the office element of the scheme. A planning application seeking to change of use for the property to residential to create 71 flats was refused last year. Platform_ currently operates a portfolio of five BTR sites, held in a jv with Invesco Real Estate, and is developing an additional 1,000 BTR apartments in Cardiff, Sheffield and Glasgow. Other projects include 464 BTR apartments in Edinburgh and an eight-acre site in Leeds, earmarked for more than 1m sq ft of BTR, homes for private sale and offices. Acquisitions director Stewart Knight said: “We are delighted to have secured this site in Milton Keynes, where we intend to deliver high-quality BTR and offices in the heart of the Oxford to Cambridge Innovation Arc. “This is another example of our flexible approach to extending our BTR development portfolio, with mixed-use opportunities very much on our agenda.”   To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews View other residential and office planning applications in Milton Keynes on EG Radius >>