Land sale paves way for £50m Warrington PRS scheme

Proposals to build 362 apartments alongside 6,400 sq ft of retail and a multi-storey car park are set to start on site after Ram Properties completed a £3m land sale to allow the project to go ahead.

Developer High Street Residential secured planning permission for the 2.1-acre site on the A49, next to Central Station, in May this year, but needed to acquire the land before work could start.

Ram Properties has now agreed to sell the site to the developer for £3m, allowing the nine-storey mixed-use project to begin. Ram had acquired the site in Warrington’s Stadium Quarter in 2009.

Designed by Triangle Architects with Lichfields as planner, the scheme features a mix of one and two-bed apartments, as well as a multi-storey car park with nearly 800 spaces. All of these are being marketed for private rent.

The project was given planning permission in May, after a decision was deferred by the council in April. To be compliant with Warrington’s planning policy, the scheme would need to class 20% of its homes as affordable, and the developer would have to provide a £279,000 contribution towards healthcare as well as more than £230,000 towards sport facilities.

However, following an independently-reviewed viability assessment, the developer has argued the scheme would not be viable with this level of contribution and has instead offered to pay £75,000 towards a travel plan for the site.

Bob McLaughlin, managing director of Ram Properties, said: “We’ve always been at the core of Warrington’s ongoing regeneration and are proud to be facilitating in its renaissance with the sale of this site.

“Our business has been built upon seeing opportunity. We have always strongly believed and invested in the potential of Warrington town centre. The High Street Residential scheme will be another fabulous asset in Warrington.”

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