Housing association Optivo has acquired the residential land for 369 homes at the £300m mixed-use regeneration of Brighton’s Preston Barracks.
It acquired the land with consent for a mix of for-sale and affordable rent homes from U+I. Work is expected to start on site in summer 2019.
Neill Tickle, land and new business director at Optivo, said: “This is a very exciting time for Brighton, and we’re proud to be involved with such an ambitious masterplan that will create jobs and positively transform the area.
“It is Optivo’s largest land-only deal to date, and we’re keen to get started on building 369 much-needed quality homes as part of a buzzing new neighbourhood.”
Simon Hesketh, director of regeneration at U+I, said: ‘This transformational project is on track to create a thriving place for people to live, work and learn, bringing tangible benefits to the local community and the city as a whole.”
Preston Barracks is a brownfield site, around a mile and a half from Brighton city centre. It has been derelict for more than 20 years and forms part of the wider regeneration partnership with the University of Brighton that aims to transform the area into a “live, work and learn” destination.
U+I and the University of Brighton won planning consent for 369 homes, 1,338 student bedrooms, the university’s new business school and a 50,000 sq ft hub for start-up businesses in 2017. Construction is already underway, with U+I’s first building due to be completed in December 2019.
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