Housebuilder Weston Homes has acquired the 7.6-acre Wellcome factory site in Dartford, Kent, from Jamie Ritblat’s Delancey for an £80m “garden village” scheme.
The Wellcome Pharmaceutical Factory, which had occupied the site since 1889, was closed in 2008 by owner GlaxoSmithKline.
Weston is paying upwards of £10m for the site at Mills Pond, which will see 400 homes built over three years.
Around 28,500 sq ft of commercial space will also be included.
Construction will begin on site in summer 2015.
The project is part of Weston Homes’ £1bn expansion plan, intended to double the size of the firm over the next four to five years, having secured a £100m extension of its funding facility with HSBC and Lloyds in 2014.
The Mills Pond site will be funded through that facility, and the scheme forms part of the government’s Garden Suburbs programme announced in March 2012.
Weston Homes chairman and managing director Bob Weston said: “Our new £80m garden village will transform surplus industrial land and bring it back to use as high quality residential housing and commercial premises. The Mill Pond and river setting will provide attractive water features for the adjoining homes and the leafy, garden suburb-inspired design will create a highly attractive place to live. It will be ideal for families and executives wanting a home within the M25 providing easy commuting into central London.”
