Native Land inks deal for £1bn Blackfriars development

The developer behind Richard Rogers’ Neo Bankside scheme next to the Tate Modern is part of the team that has snapped up the £1bn scheme to redevelop the nearby Ludgate and Sampson Houses at the bottom of Blackfriars Bridge on London’s Bankside.

Native Land has joined forces with Singaporian firms, investor Temasel and developer Hotel Properties, plus Malaysian property company Amcorp with the consortium paying Carlyle Group £308 million for the 2.1ha plot.

The clients were first linked with the site in September 2014 and this week they confirmed the acquisition.

Plans for the redevelopment, which sits either side of the railway line that runs in and out of Blackfriars station, have been drawn up by PLP.

A total of nine buildings were given the green light by Southwark planners 18 months ago and include a 49-storey residential tower on the site of Ludgate House with a 13 storey residential building to its north and a 15 storey office block to the south.

Ludgate House used to be the headquarters of Building publisher UBM and was cleared out earlier this month after the last of the tenants, construction giant Balfour Beatty, moved out. It was opened in 1989 by the then prime minister Margaret Thatcher.

Proposals for Sampson House, which opened a decade earlier and was designed by Fitzroy Robinson, include a pair of 31 and 27-storey towers that will provide 218 residential units.

Native Land said the first phase will include the 49-storey tower at Ludgate House with demolition of the building due to begin later this year.