International property investor Strawberry Star Group has bought a mixed-use site in eastern England for a £244m (€285.7m).
Tristan Capital Partners’ EPISO opportunity fund and Addington Capital announced in a joint statement that they have sold the 4.5-acre site in Harlow – with consent for residential 447 units – to Strawberry’s volume housebuilding division Strawberry Star Homes for more than £15m.
Addington and EPISO bought the Harvey Shopping Centre as part of a broader portfolio in 2011 and have been refurbishing and improving it since then. The site is alongside the joint venture partners’ Harvey Shopping Centre in Harlow.
Addington secured planning permission for the site, which was previously a shopping mall, to create a mixed-use regeneration scheme.
Jeremy Bullock, director at Tristan Capital Partners, said: “We saw a real potential to transform this part of the town which had long needed investment by creating nearly 450 new residential homes in an attractive setting.
“Addington and Tristan have been early movers in the repurposing of underperforming shopping centre space and with the shortage of quality housing in the area, we believe this will provide benefits to all.”
Martin Roberts, principal of Addington Capital, said: “We were offered a good price for the site and wish Strawberry Star well in progressing the redevelopment. We will continue to intensively asset manage the rest of the shopping centre in the meantime.”
Santhosh Gowda, chairman, Strawberry Star Group, said: “The Harlow site is an important investment for Strawberry Star, as it is the next step to realising our vision of delivering volume housing vision for Londoners, especially first-time buyers.”
Gowda said the site is part of Strawberry’s long-term strategy to deliver 4,000 new homes by 2025.
“Massive regeneration in Harlow is driving local demand for quality housing. We intend to provide homes at prices which are achievable to home buyers, who have been priced out of London.
“The Harlow site is our second mixed-use development in the London commuter belt. Work on our first scheme LU2ON, will commence in May 2019, creating 785+ apartments in Luton,” Gowda said.
