Two long-stalled Bristol sites – the old ambulance station and the former fire station – are close to being sold in separate deals to M&G and Palmer Capital’s Cubex.
M&G has placed the ambulance station site under offer, with plans to forward-fund the £100m scheme, known as Castle Park View.
The site is being developed by Linkcity, a subsidiary of Bouygues, which has received planning for 375 homes across two buildings and a 25-storey tower. Some 75 of the homes will be affordable.
The redevelopment of the site has been long in the offing. Bristol council and the Homes and Communities Agency pooled their landholdings to assemble the site in 2014, with Grainger the first to go under offer in 2015, although the site did not then have planning.
It will be M&G’s first PRS investment in the city, which has been popular with developers though difficult to enter due to Bristol’s tight land supply.
Meanwhile, Cubex, backed by Palmer Capital, is the front runner for the old fire station site on Temple Back, which is being sold by Avon Fire and Rescue Service.
The site has long been mooted for sale after AF&RS announced plans to decant itself into one-third of the current site and sell the remainder in 2014.
After moving in in 2016 it started the sale process for the 1.5 acre site.
The development could be suitable for both residential or office use.
Cubex is building one of the city’s only speculative office schemes: the 95,000 sq ft Aurora office at Finzel’s Reach, a development where Grainger is taking 194 residential units for a PRS foothold in the city.
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