London-focused developer Great Marlborough Estates (GME) has acquired Empire House, a vacant office tower overlooking London’s Chiswick High Road, to transform the building and surrounding site into 137 new homes.
The deal - which was negotiated during lockdown and is one of the largest residential transactions to take place since the start of the coronavirus pandemic – was struck with landlord Lendlease for an undisclosed amount.
Great Marlborough Estates plans to revamp and extend the tower to create 66 high-quality apartments, comprising a mix of predominantly one- and two-bedroom homes.
At ground level, an additional 9,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space spread across two units will be created.
Founded by Grant Lipton and Dean Clifford, Great Marlborough Estates is behind more than £1.5 bn of residential development across London.
The company was the development advisor behind the restoration of John Nash’s Regents Crescent, Regents Park into 67 luxury apartments and nine mews houses, as well as recently securing planning permission for the Zaha Hadid-designed skyscrapers overlooking Vauxhall station that will provide a mix of new housing, public realm and workspace and also a hotel.
Grant Lipton, co-founder of Great Marlborough Estates, said: ‘Whilst Covid-19 has undoubtedly created some uncertainty, we remain committed to the long-term outlook for London and the capital’s property market thanks to strong underlying fundamentals.’
JLL advised Great Marlborough Estates on the acquisition. Knight Frank advised Lendlease.
