St Modwen £125m PRS job gets go-ahead

Maccreanor Lavington has won planning for a £125 million private rented sector scheme in Lewisham.

Working on behalf of developer St Modwen the scheme on Leegate Street will see a 1960s building redeveloped into 229 one-, two- and three-bed apartments, of which 193 will be for private rent.

The development will also contain 45,000 sq ft of retail, residential, leisure and education facilities and a 68,000 sq ft supermarket.

Killian Morris, senior development manager at St Modwen, said: “Our plan to develop this PRS-led scheme demonstrates our commitment to this growing sector and follows our decision to develop over 200 PRS apartments at St Andrew’s Park in Uxbridge and the success of similar completed schemes at Rugby and Wembley Central.

“Overall, the regeneration of Leegate will put the heart back into the area, providing much needed-housing and jobs and acting as a catalyst for further renewal in this part of Lewisham with its mix of homes, shops and leisure spaces.”

Meanwhile, in a trading update St Modwen reported that it had a commercial development pipeline standing at 1.7m sq ft and had recently signed agreements to develop 1 million sq ft of industrial space in Chippenham, Wiltshire and the £200m Spray Street Quarter in Woolwich in joint venture with Notting Hill Housing.

The firm added that it had been focusing on the North West for acquisitions and had invested in Crosby Town Centre in Liverpool and Warth Industrial Estate in Bury.

St Modwen chief executive Bill Oliver said: “We have experienced a good start to the year as our extensive regional portfolio, commercial development pipeline and housebuilding activities continue to produce real opportunities for growth in terms of Group Net Asset Value which we expect to demonstrate at both the half year and the full year 2016, leading to long-term value creation for our shareholders”.