Galliard is in talks with supermarket chain Morrisons to buy a £300m scheme in Camden, NW1, in a return to the inner London property market.
The developer has not bought a central project since April last year, focusing instead on outer London and regional development since the capital’s development market started to slow.
However, it is now in exclusive talks with Morrisons to buy the development of Camden Goods Yard – a 4.9-acre, 573-flat scheme behind Camden Market on the inner edge of Zone 2 – with a consortium including long-term partners Cain International.
The goods yard is a rare large-scale development opportunity in the area.
A redevelopment of the existing supermarket with residential above was first proposed in 2016.
Barratt took the site through planning and had the option to buy it once permission was obtained. However, the decline in the London residential market and Barratt’s departure from central London meant Cushman & Wakefield was appointed to sell the scheme.
Plans include 389 flats for private sale and 184 affordable – 102 for social rent and 82 for intermediate housing – a new supermarket, 125,000 sq ft of office space and the UK’s largest rooftop farm. It will include eight buildings ranging from five to 14 storeys.
Galliard has been one of the most active residential developers in the capital, but for the past 15 months has been selling some of its inner London schemes.
The last scheme it bought in Zone 2 was through a JV with Aviva for the Cantium retail park on the Old Kent Road, SE1, in April 2017. While still central, this was in a less prime location than Camden.
Otherwise, it has kept to peripheral sites.
It bought the Honey Monster cereal factory site in Southall, west London, in April last year, and entered into an agreement with Catalyst Housing Association to redevelop the Wimbledon Dog Track in March.
It is also carrying out a series of developments in Birmingham with Apsley House Capital.
It has sold out of other schemes, including the 785-home Ailsa Wharf, on Bow Creek, E14, sold to the world’s largest residential developer Country Garden, in April 2018, and Peruvian Wharf on the Royal Docks, E16, which fell foul of the GLA’s industrial strategy.
There has been a relative resurgence in activity in the central London residential market. Last week EG revealed that a Lodha-affiliated group was in discussions around the Kensington Odeon site, W8, while Sons & Co, backed by Slovakian developer J&T Real Estate had exchanged on 185 Park Street, SE1.
The recent flurry of deals could be taken as an indication that the inner London development market is recovering, or at least has bottomed out, and as such, developers are positioning themselves for an increase in development values.
Knight Frank is advising Galliard.
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