The Nestlé Tower in Croydon, otherwise known as St Georges House has been put up for sale off market, by Legal and General. They are in discussion with Delancey’s and Ares Property Partners’ Minerva who are hoping to develop the site – the likelihood is for an office to residential conversion.
The Tower is located on Park Lane above the Croydon Underpass, was designed by Ronald Ward and Partners and construction was completed in 1964. The 200,000 sq. ft. of office space was occupied by Nestlé up until 2012 but the tower has stood empty ever since.
Legal and General who bought the tower from Nestle in 2012 are expected to sell the building for £10 million to the joint venture despite having planning permission for 311 flats with an end value in the private rental sector of £75 million. The sale price of £10 million seems a little low considering the end value and that planning permission has already been granted; Ollie Salter a surveyor at Morgan Pryce believes this is due to three reasons, “Legal and General could not move forward with the scheme themselves due to Minerva owning the surrounding buildings, Minerva are therefore making it impossible for L&G to move forward with this unless they can reap the rewards. Secondly the L&G fund is coming to a close and the scheme would complete after the fund has matured. Also there are ominous clouds above the London’s residential market – especially the private rental sector which may put doubts on the end value of the development.”
This news was brought to you by Morgan Pryce, a specialist tenant acquisition agent with offices in Oxford Circus and the City. Morgan Pryce specialises in search, negotiation and project management and works exclusively for tenants.
