Property giant City Developments (CDL) is buying a prime freehold site on the River Thames in south-west London that it will use for luxury homes.
CDL said yesterday that it will pay Curatus Trust £58 million (S$103.4 million) for the 0.65ha Ransomes Wharf site in Battersea.
The deal is expected to be completed next month. It intends to build a luxury residential project with an estimated gross development value of £222 million.
"We have purchased this site as part of our continuing focus on the suburban London market," said CDL executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng.
The riverside site is west of Albert Bridge in what is known as Battersea's creative quarter, with tenants including Foster + Partners Architects, Royal College of Art and Vivienne Westwood.
CDL noted that the plot is also near Battersea Park and Chelsea's trendy King's Road, which is home to designer stores, restaurants and bars.
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118
Number of apartments that the site has an existing planning permission for.
6
Number of towers planned for the residential development.
The site has an existing planning permission for 118 apartments, eight commercial units totalling 21,980 square feet and 103 car parking spaces, the developer said.
The residential development will comprise six towers of up to 10 storeys, with a mix of one- to three-bedroom units as well as two- to four-bedroom penthouses.
CDL said the "heart of the development" is centred around a new public piazza that will provide access to the Thames Path and the historic dock.
The ground-floor commercial space will offer opportunities for retail and workspace uses that can support the existing leisure facilities in the neighbourhood, it added.
"We believe the Ransomes Wharf development will be timely, bearing in mind the recent major pre-let to Apple Corporation at Battersea Power Station. Ransomes Wharf should be appealing to Apple and other relocating organisations, such as the new US Embassy," Mr Kwek noted.
This acquisition takes CDL's total investment in Britain to £510.2 million in 10 prime properties, although two of these - in Croydon and Reading - have since been sold.
Its remaining properties are in Knightsbridge, Belgravia, Chelsea, Teddington, Mortlake, Shoreditch and Battersea. The upcoming project in Ransomes Wharf will add to CDL's portfolio of Thames-side upscale homes under development.
They include the 22-acre (8.9ha) freehold Stag Brewery site in Mortlake and the 220-unit residential project on the former Pinewood Studios freehold site in Teddington.
CDL said payment for the Ransomes Wharf site will be phased over the next 18 months. Site demolition work is expected to start in the next few months.
