Countryside Properties is putting together plans for a £60m residential scheme located on what local agents are saying is the best development site to hit the Cambridge market in recent years.
The developer has agreed to pay Simoco more than £15m for the 4ha (10-acre) prime brownfield site, known as Chesterton Riverside. It plans to develop 230 houses and apartments, with around 50 of these affordable homes available for rent or shared ownership. Countryside plans to start selling the homes off-plan towards the end of 2002.
Countryside saw off fierce competition from nine other bidders to sign a deal structured in three parts. The developer will pay an initial deposit of £8m, then a second payment when Simoco vacates the premises and a third when the sale of houses begins.
Simoco will pay rent to Countryside until it relocates to 2,415 sq m (26,000 sq ft) headquarters on 76 St Andrew’s Road, Cambridge.
Brian Buckingham of Bidwells, which acted for Simoco, said: “I think this is a classic example of what can be achieved when a developer works with a business to find an equitable solution. The business has the premises it wants until it moves; the developer gets the land it wants. Everyone’s happy.”
Agents in the market were not surprised at the high price paid by Countryside. Associate director at Knight Frank, Freddie Popoff, said: “I think you have to bear in mind the volume of sales, and the sale price per sq ft of houses in Cambridge at the moment. At £250-£260 per sq ft for a quality development, which is frequently sold off-plan, it is easy to see why developers are willing to pay 45-50% of the gross development value for land.”
EGi News 26/03/01
