Henderson Park and Greystar to deliver the worlds tallest modular towers in Croydon, London
Press Release
January 31, 2018
LONDON--Greystar Real Estate Partners (“Greystar”), the global rental housing leader, and Henderson Park, the European real estate investment platform founded by Nick Weber, announce that they have exchanged contracts with Tide Construction Limited (“Tide Construction”), to acquire a c. 550-apartment residential development at 101 George Street in Croydon, London. On completion, the development will comprise two of the world’s tallest towers built using modular construction, at 44-storeys and 38-storeys. The site has full planning permission and the transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2018.
This is the second investment Henderson Park and Greystar have made in joint venture into the London residential Private Rented Sector (PRS), following their $197m (£140.5m) acquisition of a 172-unit Central London residential portfolio from Barratt Developments PLC in March last year.
A well-connected location with an exciting future
101 George Street is one of the best-connected locations in Croydon and is directly opposite East Croydon train station, which on an average weekday has 600 trains running into central London, with fast trains taking just 16 minutes. Croydon is one of the largest commercial districts outside central London, with an extensive shopping district and night-time economy. The borough has recently emerged as one of the fastest growing areas out of 173 UK regions, with an annual growth rate of 9.3 percent, and has been dubbed the “Silicon Valley of South London” due to the high number of tech companies and startup businesses operating locally.
On November 14th, Croydon Council voted unanimously to approve plans for a $1.8bn (£1.4bn) regeneration scheme, anchored by a new Westfield and Hammerson shopping center, that will deliver over 1.5m sq ft of retail and leisure space. The plans were approved by the Mayor of London in January 2018 and construction work is scheduled to commence in 2019. The new shopping center is at the heart of around $738bn (£5.25bn) of planned major investments into Croydon which include 2m sq ft of new Grade A office space, new residential developments and eight hotels, as well as Croydon Council’s infrastructure improvement programme; all helping drive new residents, visitors and businesses to the town center.
An exceptional development improving the public realm
All apartments at 101 George Street will benefit from access to shared amenities including roof gardens at the top of each tower, a podium-level sun lounge, panoramic viewing galleries, fully equipped gyms, residents lounge and private dining and event rooms. The development will also deliver a new civic environment for Croydon at ground level with a ‘woodland winter garden’ that will offer green space on George Street. The ground floor incorporates an art gallery, artist’s studio spaces, a business incubator hub and a café. 101 George Street will include homes for rent on a variety of different terms, including affordable housing, London Living Rent, rental discounts, as well as open market rates. Greystar will manage the apartments with a full-time onsite team to ensure a high-quality rental experience for residents.
Mark Allnutt, Greystar Managing Director, UK said: “101 George Street is a strategically significant deal for Greystar and helps us move closer to our target of delivering 10,000 multifamily units in London by 2022. It also means that, when operational, we will have large-scale multifamily developments in four areas of London – Greenford in West London, Sailmakers in East London, Nine Elms in central London and now Croydon in south London. We’re thrilled that Henderson Park has decided to invest a second time with Greystar and we look forward to working closely over the coming months to deliver this exceptional project.”
Nick Weber, Founding Partner of Henderson Park, commented: “This significant acquisition provides us with further critical mass in London’s residential PRS market. Croydon has a long history as a strong business, retail, leisure and residential destination and the town is currently enjoying a real renaissance driven by £5.25 billion of inward investment and infrastructure works. This programme of investment will further increase demand for homes and 101 George Street, with its fast modular building methods, will provide much needed supply across all levels of affordability. We are also very pleased to be working with Greystar again and combining our team’s experience with one of the world’s leaders in rented housing.”
Troy Tomasik, Greystar Managing Director, Investments, said: “This is an ambitious development and an exciting milestone for Greystar which signals our commitment to finding innovative solutions to London’s housing challenge. Croydon is emerging as an economically-vibrant and culturally dynamic center but it’s going to need high-quality rental homes to support this stellar growth. 101 George Street, as well as claiming the title ‘tallest modular towers in the world’, will set a new standard for rental accommodation in south London, with fantastic facilities for residents as well as civic space for the local community. We’re proud to be bringing all this to Croydon, with Henderson Park and in partnership with Tide Construction.”
Fast, efficient and low environmental impact construction
101 George Street will be developed using modular construction, a method providing a much faster alternative to traditional construction without compromising on the quality of the building or the versatility of the design. Modules are constructed offsite in a controlled manufacturing environment to ensure a higher quality finish, with 80 per cent less waste, fewer onsite workers and greater certainty on costs and time. The modules will be shipped from a factory in Bedford with the electricity prewired and plumbing, furniture and windows already installed. The total build time for the project will take just 24 months, from construction starting to residents moving in to their new homes.
101 George Street is the fourth project Greystar and Tide Construction have delivered using this method and, once complete, will bring the total number of units the partnership has delivered in London to 1,700 units.
Christy Hayes, CEO of Tide Construction Ltd., said: “The towers of 101 George Street will stand tall as testimony to the potential of modular construction within the UK and beyond. Building high-quality homes faster, and with less disruption to the local area, is of paramount importance in such a fast-evolving area of south London. Modular construction is highly suited to rental developments as investors and operators can welcome residents into their homes sooner and open the revenue streams earlier.”
ABOUT HENDERSON PARK
Henderson Park is a real estate investment platform, launched by Nick Weber in 2016. Henderson Park is backed by three cornerstone investors: Stone Point Capital, Kuwait Investment Authority and Wafra Investment Advisory Group.
Henderson Park has been established to invest in European real estate, primarily targeting gateway cities and seeking investments in both assets and companies. Henderson Park will pursue opportunities across a wide variety of commercial real estate sectors.
Henderson Park is led by Nick Weber, its Founding Partner and CEO. Nick has over 20 years of real estate experience, including most recently as Head of Europe for Mount Kellett and previously at Goldman Sachs for 14 years, where he was a Partner and Co-Head of its European Special Situations Group.
ABOUT GREYSTAR
Greystar is a leading, fully integrated multifamily real estate company offering expertise in investment management, development and property management of rental housing properties globally. Headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina with offices throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific, Greystar is the largest operator of apartments in the United States, managing over 420,000 units in over 130 markets globally, with an aggregate estimated value of approximately $80 billion. Greystar also has a robust institutional investment management platform dedicated to managing capital on behalf of a global network of institutional investors with over $23 billion in gross assets under management including more than $8 billion of developments that have been completed or are underway. Greystar was founded by Bob Faith in 1993 with the intent to become a provider of world class service in the rental housing real estate business.
Since entering the UK market in 2013, Greystar has built up a property portfolio worth £4.5 billion, representing over 32,000 units and comprising both student housing and multifamily rental accommodation. The company is an investor and operator of student brand Chapter and a shareholder in student accommodation provider iQ. To learn more about Greystar, visit www.greystar.com.
The information contained herein shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
Contacts
FTI Consulting for Henderson Park:
Richard Sunderland or Ellie Sweeney, +44 (0)20 3727 1000
Hendersonpark@fticonsulting.com
or
Press contacts (U.K.) for Greystar:
TwoBlue Communications
Paul Browne or Jake Hervin, 020 8870 0367
paul@tbcpr.com
or
Press contact (U.S.) for Greystar:
ICR, Inc.
Angela Bonnici, +1-646-277-1276
Angela.Bonnici@icrinc.com
or
Investor strategy and relations for Greystar:
Greystar Real Estate Partners
Claudius Weissbarth, +44 (20) 3595 3302
Claudius.Weissbarth@Greystar.com
This is the second investment Henderson Park and Greystar have made in joint venture into the London residential Private Rented Sector (PRS), following their $197m (£140.5m) acquisition of a 172-unit Central London residential portfolio from Barratt Developments PLC in March last year.
A well-connected location with an exciting future
101 George Street is one of the best-connected locations in Croydon and is directly opposite East Croydon train station, which on an average weekday has 600 trains running into central London, with fast trains taking just 16 minutes. Croydon is one of the largest commercial districts outside central London, with an extensive shopping district and night-time economy. The borough has recently emerged as one of the fastest growing areas out of 173 UK regions, with an annual growth rate of 9.3 percent, and has been dubbed the “Silicon Valley of South London” due to the high number of tech companies and startup businesses operating locally.
On November 14th, Croydon Council voted unanimously to approve plans for a $1.8bn (£1.4bn) regeneration scheme, anchored by a new Westfield and Hammerson shopping center, that will deliver over 1.5m sq ft of retail and leisure space. The plans were approved by the Mayor of London in January 2018 and construction work is scheduled to commence in 2019. The new shopping center is at the heart of around $738bn (£5.25bn) of planned major investments into Croydon which include 2m sq ft of new Grade A office space, new residential developments and eight hotels, as well as Croydon Council’s infrastructure improvement programme; all helping drive new residents, visitors and businesses to the town center.
An exceptional development improving the public realm
All apartments at 101 George Street will benefit from access to shared amenities including roof gardens at the top of each tower, a podium-level sun lounge, panoramic viewing galleries, fully equipped gyms, residents lounge and private dining and event rooms. The development will also deliver a new civic environment for Croydon at ground level with a ‘woodland winter garden’ that will offer green space on George Street. The ground floor incorporates an art gallery, artist’s studio spaces, a business incubator hub and a café. 101 George Street will include homes for rent on a variety of different terms, including affordable housing, London Living Rent, rental discounts, as well as open market rates. Greystar will manage the apartments with a full-time onsite team to ensure a high-quality rental experience for residents.
Mark Allnutt, Greystar Managing Director, UK said: “101 George Street is a strategically significant deal for Greystar and helps us move closer to our target of delivering 10,000 multifamily units in London by 2022. It also means that, when operational, we will have large-scale multifamily developments in four areas of London – Greenford in West London, Sailmakers in East London, Nine Elms in central London and now Croydon in south London. We’re thrilled that Henderson Park has decided to invest a second time with Greystar and we look forward to working closely over the coming months to deliver this exceptional project.”
Nick Weber, Founding Partner of Henderson Park, commented: “This significant acquisition provides us with further critical mass in London’s residential PRS market. Croydon has a long history as a strong business, retail, leisure and residential destination and the town is currently enjoying a real renaissance driven by £5.25 billion of inward investment and infrastructure works. This programme of investment will further increase demand for homes and 101 George Street, with its fast modular building methods, will provide much needed supply across all levels of affordability. We are also very pleased to be working with Greystar again and combining our team’s experience with one of the world’s leaders in rented housing.”
Troy Tomasik, Greystar Managing Director, Investments, said: “This is an ambitious development and an exciting milestone for Greystar which signals our commitment to finding innovative solutions to London’s housing challenge. Croydon is emerging as an economically-vibrant and culturally dynamic center but it’s going to need high-quality rental homes to support this stellar growth. 101 George Street, as well as claiming the title ‘tallest modular towers in the world’, will set a new standard for rental accommodation in south London, with fantastic facilities for residents as well as civic space for the local community. We’re proud to be bringing all this to Croydon, with Henderson Park and in partnership with Tide Construction.”
Fast, efficient and low environmental impact construction
101 George Street will be developed using modular construction, a method providing a much faster alternative to traditional construction without compromising on the quality of the building or the versatility of the design. Modules are constructed offsite in a controlled manufacturing environment to ensure a higher quality finish, with 80 per cent less waste, fewer onsite workers and greater certainty on costs and time. The modules will be shipped from a factory in Bedford with the electricity prewired and plumbing, furniture and windows already installed. The total build time for the project will take just 24 months, from construction starting to residents moving in to their new homes.
101 George Street is the fourth project Greystar and Tide Construction have delivered using this method and, once complete, will bring the total number of units the partnership has delivered in London to 1,700 units.
Christy Hayes, CEO of Tide Construction Ltd., said: “The towers of 101 George Street will stand tall as testimony to the potential of modular construction within the UK and beyond. Building high-quality homes faster, and with less disruption to the local area, is of paramount importance in such a fast-evolving area of south London. Modular construction is highly suited to rental developments as investors and operators can welcome residents into their homes sooner and open the revenue streams earlier.”
ABOUT HENDERSON PARK
Henderson Park is a real estate investment platform, launched by Nick Weber in 2016. Henderson Park is backed by three cornerstone investors: Stone Point Capital, Kuwait Investment Authority and Wafra Investment Advisory Group.
Henderson Park has been established to invest in European real estate, primarily targeting gateway cities and seeking investments in both assets and companies. Henderson Park will pursue opportunities across a wide variety of commercial real estate sectors.
Henderson Park is led by Nick Weber, its Founding Partner and CEO. Nick has over 20 years of real estate experience, including most recently as Head of Europe for Mount Kellett and previously at Goldman Sachs for 14 years, where he was a Partner and Co-Head of its European Special Situations Group.
ABOUT GREYSTAR
Greystar is a leading, fully integrated multifamily real estate company offering expertise in investment management, development and property management of rental housing properties globally. Headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina with offices throughout the United States, Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific, Greystar is the largest operator of apartments in the United States, managing over 420,000 units in over 130 markets globally, with an aggregate estimated value of approximately $80 billion. Greystar also has a robust institutional investment management platform dedicated to managing capital on behalf of a global network of institutional investors with over $23 billion in gross assets under management including more than $8 billion of developments that have been completed or are underway. Greystar was founded by Bob Faith in 1993 with the intent to become a provider of world class service in the rental housing real estate business.
Since entering the UK market in 2013, Greystar has built up a property portfolio worth £4.5 billion, representing over 32,000 units and comprising both student housing and multifamily rental accommodation. The company is an investor and operator of student brand Chapter and a shareholder in student accommodation provider iQ. To learn more about Greystar, visit www.greystar.com.
The information contained herein shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of any securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration, exemption from registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
Contacts
FTI Consulting for Henderson Park:
Richard Sunderland or Ellie Sweeney, +44 (0)20 3727 1000
Hendersonpark@fticonsulting.com
or
Press contacts (U.K.) for Greystar:
TwoBlue Communications
Paul Browne or Jake Hervin, 020 8870 0367
paul@tbcpr.com
or
Press contact (U.S.) for Greystar:
ICR, Inc.
Angela Bonnici, +1-646-277-1276
Angela.Bonnici@icrinc.com
or
Investor strategy and relations for Greystar:
Greystar Real Estate Partners
Claudius Weissbarth, +44 (20) 3595 3302
Claudius.Weissbarth@Greystar.com