Grosvenor strikes deal to build 5,000-home Essex new town

Developer Grosvenor has struck a deal with an Essex land owner to deliver around 5,000 homes to the east of Chelmsford.

Working with Hammonds Estates, Grosvenor will promote the 1,160-acre site as a new community featuring a mix of housing types, supported by schools, leisure and health facilities.

In 2018, Grosvenor outlined plans to triple the size of its strategic land business, targeting a portfolio of at least 30,000 homes within the next five years.

The new partnership aligns with Grosvenor’s focus on sites capable of hosting 2,000-5,000-plus homes, in growth areas where housing need is most acute.

With the addition of Hammonds Farm, Grosvenor’s pipeline now stands at around 15,000 homes, up from 2,100 in summer 2017.

Expansion plans have evolved from Grosvenor’s recent large schemes which include:

Trumpington Meadows, Cambridgeshire – a partnership with the Universities Superannuation Scheme creating a new community south west of Cambridge with over 1,200 homes of mixed tenure, size and type and with facilities on a site which is 80% open space.

Barton Park, Oxfordshire – one of the most advanced NHS Healthy New Towns delivering 900 homes of mixed tenure, size and type in
partnership with Oxford City Council. Barton Park was selected as one of 10 NHS Healthy New Towns, which promote health and wellbeing through design innovations, from a field of over 110 applicants.

In partnership with local authorities, corporate and private landowners and investors, Grosvenor’s model is to take sites through the planning system, take control of the design and build out process and importantly deliver the infrastructure required to bring forward homes faster and maintaining control over design quality.

Through the expansion, Grosvenor aims to establish itself as the market leader in delivering sustainable communities that are progressive in their design, sensitive to local communities and to the environment.

Alex Robinson, Grosvenor director of strategic land development, said: “This new partnership exemplifies our target model for our Strategic Land business.

“Working with Hammonds Estates, we will focus both on delivering new homes at pace, and creating exceptional communities that create a positive legacy for residents and landowners alike.

“This requires a considered approach and a long-term view. It means deploying capital patiently to unlock development through up-front investment in infrastructure and placemaking, as well as maintaining careful stewardship over the design and management of new communities as they grow.”

from Construction Enquirer http://www.constructionenquirer.com/2019/02/27/grosvenor-strikes-deal-to-build-5000-home-essex-new-town/

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