Royal Mail sells Nine Elms plots to Greystar for £101m
Greystar has made its second foray into the Vauxhall Nine Elms market in SW8 as it grows its rental offering south of the river.
The US multifamily giant has bought plots B and D from Royal Mail for £101m. The 14-acre site used to house Royal Mail’s sorting office.
Greystar plans to build 894 homes on its 2.7 acres. The entire site has outline consent for 1,870 homes. There are five further plots up for sale.
Greystar has made its second foray into the Vauxhall Nine Elms market in SW8 as it grows its rental offering south of the river.
The US multifamily giant has bought plots B and D from Royal Mail for £101m. The 14-acre site used to house Royal Mail’s sorting office.
Greystar plans to build 894 homes on its 2.7 acres. The entire site has outline consent for 1,870 homes. There are five further plots up for sale.
In 2014, Royal Mail was looking to sell the whole site, which at one point analysts valued at more than £600m. However, after a deal with Ballymore and Eco World fell through and the Vauxhall market cooled, it appointed Savills to market specific plots for the rental market.
Greystar will submit detailed plans for the site which will tailor it more towards the rental market. It has entered into a pre-construction development agreement with Telford Homes. The parties will enter into a design-and-build contract when planning is achieved.
Royal Mail said a £3m deposit had been paid, with a further £98m due when planning permission is granted.
Mark Allnutt, managing director Greystar, said: “This will be, without question, central London’s most exciting rental community. There’s nothing comparable in the UK in terms of scale and resident amenity.”
Greystar first entered the Vauxhall market in February when it bought 118 flats in a tower at Barratt’s development at Nine Elms Point.
That £140.5m deal was backed by money from Nick Weber’s Henderson Park investment platform. Other pots of capital have been used for its other London schemes, inlcuding 400 flats in Millharbour in Canary Wharf, E14, and 1,965 new homes at a 26.5-acre site in Greenford, west London.
Greystar is not the first rental operator to head to the Vauxhall market. Bruce Ritchie’s Residential Land bought 51 units from Bellway at the Residence, while Strawberry Star has bought individual units in Ballymore and Berkeley schemes.
