A developer founded by former executives from Argent, The Collective and GL Hearn is pursuing a build-to-rent scheme in Westminster to pay for a new St Mungo’s centre.
The 94-home development will be the first for Stories, which formed in 2018 as a socially-responsible, mixed-use developer.
Stories was selected by St Mungo’s as its preferred bidder for the site at 217 Harrow Road, W2, in a £20m contract via the Official Journal of the EU in 2019. The agreement will see Stories act as development partner, taking the long-leasehold for the BTR site.
Stories and St Mungo’s have jointly submitted a planning application to Westminster City Council, proposing a £50m development, dubbed the first of its kind.
The 94 BTR homes will include private market and discount market rent housing. The St Mungo’s facility will be funded by the BTR sale, and will provide self-contained, mid-term accommodation and support services.
The scheme has been designed by Allford Hall Monaghan Morris to be environmentally sustainable.
Stories was founded by Richard Meier, a former partner at Argent; James Scott, former chief operations officer at The Collective; and Paul Clark, former head of development at GL Hearn.
Earlier this year, Stories was selected by Nottingham City Council and the Greater Broadmarsh Advisory Group to work with urban designer Heatherwick Studio in creating a “new vision” for the former Broadmarsh shopping centre in Nottingham.
Meier, Stories’ chief executive, said: “In line with our commitment to improving people’s lives through the built environment, this development marks a crucial addition to one of the London boroughs most deeply affected by homelessness.
“Through projects like these, we are hoping to carve out a new era for development projects where delivering long-term social returns takes precedence over short-term gains.”
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