Watkin Jones sells Greater Manchester PRS
L1 Property has acquired The Wharf, a 53-apartment development in Droylsden’s canal quarter.
Watkin Jones offloaded the Greater Manchester asset as part of a wider portfolio transaction totalling 174 private rented homes across three schemes. As well as The Wharf, L1 has bought two developments in Sheffield called Gateway and Impact.
George Dyer, group investment director at Watkin Jones, said the sale of these assets “represents the culmination of our business plan”.
“[The deal] will enable us to recycle the proceeds into further land opportunities as we look to grow our pipeline in the coming months.”
The sale price was not disclosed, however, Watkin Jones said that the deal would bring in a total of £11m to the business over the next two financial years “after repayment of the related debt financing and disposal costs”.
David Lamm, chief executive of L1 Property, added: “We are enthusiastic about this transaction with Watkin Jones to acquire three landmark buildings in Sheffield and Greater Manchester, two cities we recognise for their dynamic economies and promising long-term prospects.”
Watkin Jones was advised in the transaction by Savills and Mishcon de Reya.
The deal is the first between L1 Property and Watkin Jones and marks the exit on assets that the latter built between 2006 and 2008, as part of a development agreement with Tameside Council.
Tameside Council signed an agreement in 2005 that would see Watkin Jones develop Droylsden’s canal quarter.
Since then, the firm has delivered upwards of 100 homes. In 2021, the council said it was removing a two-acre site from the agreement, a decision that Watkin Jones said it was “surprised and disappointed” by.
Perhaps the 2 acres which have been removed from the development by TMBC could be used to redress the imbalance of blanket residential sites in favour of employment developments.
Droylsden has been systematically stripped of its former industrial and commercial sites leaving nothing but housing.
If we are to discourage vehicular movements in our town to achieve Cleaner Air then the priority has to be the creation of accessible employment planning opportunities on our last remaining 2 acres.
CAZ does not fit in with large scale residential saturation.
By Bryan Knight
Some very muddled reporting here that I can barely follow.
Watkin Jones built and sold most of the Droylsden Marina development as freehold properties which is not clear from the article as written.
A more interesting issue is the derelict overgrown state of some of the WJ owned land that remains undeveloped, overgrown and is an eyesore – applies to the bits owned by Taleside Council as well – both should in fact be issued with a Section 215 notice (compulsory clean-up order).
By AltPoV