U+I sells Brighton residential sites, faces delays in Kensington
By Josh White
Date: Friday 22 Feb 2019
(Sharecast News) - Specialist regeneration developer U+I has completed the sale of the residential sites at Preston Barracks in Brighton, it announced on Friday, while also updating the market on the planning status of its scheme at Kensington Church Street.
The London-listed firm said that in combination with profits from 'other' projects - defined as those valued under £3m - including the sale of Assembly Buildings at The Old Vinyl Factory to Weston Homes in December and further development gains at Harwell, the sale at Preston Barracks brought total development and trading gains year to date to around £30m.
It said the sale of the residential sites at Preston Barracks to Optivo, one of the largest housing providers in the UK, was a "key milestone", and delivered gains in excess of its £2m-£3m target.
The regeneration project was the largest mixed-use project in Brighton, and involved Brighton and Hove City Council, the University of Brighton, Coast to Capital LEP and now Optivo.
At Kensington Church Street, U+I said the Mayor of London approved its joint venture residential scheme with Brockton Capital's in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in September.
On 29 November, a holding direction was issued by the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, following a request by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea to review the Mayor's decision and consider calling in and taking over the application.
A conclusion to that matter was expected in December but, in the absence of a formal update from the Secretary of State, U+I said it expected that to delay the projected start time on site beyond the end of March.
As a result, it said it did not anticipate including the scheme as a 2019 development and trading gain.
The project remained a "key" regeneration opportunity within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the board said, with both Brockton Capital and itself to continue pursuing all routes to commence work as soon as practicable.
"The sale of the residential sites at Preston Barracks was one of our key targets for the 2019 financial year and another milestone," said U+I chief executive officer Matthew Weiner.
"The project will deliver over £280m of economic benefit for the City of Brighton over the next 10 years and is visionary in its design and execution.
"We believe it is a template for Local Government partnership and is a win for the local community, for jobs, enterprise, affordable housing, and our shareholders."
Weiner called the delay at Kensington Church Street "frustrating".
"However we remain focused on delivering our target £45m-£50m development and trading gains for the 2019 financial year.
"This is subject to our remaining identified projects and some smaller projects completing before year end, as currently expected."
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