Chinese developer buys London development site for £158m

Chinese property developer R&F Properties has bought a mixed-use property development site in London for £158m (€185m).

UK listed company CLS Holdings said it sold Vauxhall Square, a 3.4 acre site that it bought 30 years ago.

The residential-led, mixed-use scheme is in the Nine Elms regeneration area of London and includes 1.5m sqft of residential, office, hotel, retail and leisure space across eight buildings.

R&F Properties is expected to invest approximately £1bn to deliver the scheme, which includes two 52-storey towers, two large office buildings and 578 apartments around a new public square.

It is the second acquisition in London – and Europe – by R&F Properties, which bought the Nestlé Tower office building in Croydon last month.

Tom Moore, director at CBRE, said: “This is the second acquisition R&F have made into the London development market in as many months, highlighting their confidence in London’s growing residential market.”

Henry Klotz, executive chairman of CLS, said: “The sale of Vauxhall Square is a milestone in the history of CLS.

“Having bought the site nearly 30 years ago and secured planning in 2013, we are pleased now to have exchanged contracts at a price above its year-end valuation.”

“R&F Properties has extensive residential development experience and we are delighted that it will soon create a vibrant residential, office and retail development to enhance Vauxhall, an area in which we retain over £330m of long-term investments.”

Klotz said CLS, which also owns property in continental Europe, will “reinvest the proceeds in our core business – high yielding offices with good asset management opportunities within key European cities”.

James Thomas, director at JLL, said: “The interest generated by our international marketing campaign shows the continued confidence in Vauxhall, Nine Elms, and Battersea as key growth areas, where both UK and overseas parties are competing to invest capital.”