Croydon Council has selected John Laing Projects and Developments as its preferred partner for a £450m regeneration.
John Laing beat competition from Land Securities Trillium to be selected as Croydon Council’s partner to redevelop four council-owned sites and build the council a new headquarters.
First in UK
The partnership is the first of its kind to be set up in the UK.
The cabinet is set to approve the creation of the 50:50 urban regeneration vehicle on 9 June.
The first four assets in the scheme are Taberner House, the council’s 40-year-old skyscraper headquarters; the council’s 1960’s offices in Fell Road; College Green including the College’s arts teaching block as well as the underground and multi-storey car parks and the open space; and the Tamworth annex site in West Croydon, the former school that is currently being used by the Primary Care Trust.
The council said: ‘Through setting up a limited liability partnership in which the council and its selected private sector investment partner would each have a 50% stake (through the authority’s land assets and the partner’s cash) the council will be able to ensure regeneration takes place in the way it wants and to realise much greater value from the proceeds.’
Councillor Tim Pollard said: ‘It won’t have escaped anyone’s notice that some of the most successful companies in the UK are property developers. The council has for some time sold sites to the highest bidder only for developers to take all the profit when land is developed.
'The solution we expect to engineer with John Laing will ensure we get a big slice of the future action and make a lasting contribution to Croydon’s regeneration.’
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