Developer Reef Estates is bringing two central London schemes to market for £205m in a bid to cash in on growing institutional demand for development.
The developer – backed by hotel tycoon Alan English – has instructed CBRE to source forward funding for a 220,000 sq ft redevelopment of the former Oaks shopping centre in Acton, W3.
Reef, in conjunction with the Acton Regeneration Company, is seeking full forward funding of £125m.
The project has planning permission – granted in October 2013 – for 175 flats, a supermarket, shops, leisure facilities and a multi-storey car park.
Waitrose has agreed to prelet the 42,500 sq ft supermarket on a 25-year lease at £23 per sq ft.
Reef has also instructed CBRE to find a forward funder for a 220-bedroom aparthotel at 27 Commercial Road, E1. It is seeking an £80m investment.
The 90,000 sq ft hotel scheme won consent in April 2014.
The projects will be marketed to a wide spectrum of investors, with interest expected from housebuilders, UK institutions and overseas funds.
CBRE executive director Peter Arduino said: “Reef is seeing the appetite for sizeable investments into London. But since not much of that high-quality stock exists, a lot of the funds are now looking at development funding in order to beat the competition for these assets.”
Reef was founded in 2002 by Pier Slater and Stewart Deering. Its major investor is English, who sold his Hayley Hotels business to Principal Hotels in 2007 for £358m.
The firm has a track record of joint ventures with landowners and funding institutions in London, Oxford, Cambridge and Winchester.
