Developer Eutopia Homes has acquired a 5.8-acre former school site in Medway, Kent with Chenavari Investment Managers for a housing development.
The site, on Ordnance Street near Chatham Station, which was acquired for an undisclosed amount, has recently been vacated by St John Fisher Catholic Comprehensive School, which has moved into a new 1,100 pupil school nearby.
Eutopia is working on plans for a mixture of houses and apartments and will submit a planning application later this year to Medway Council, with construction expected to start by Q4 2024.
The deal is the sixth transaction by the joint venture partners, following previous purchases in Birmingham, Exeter, Gloucester, and Greater Manchester.
Eutopia Homes chief executive Scott Hammond said: “We are delighted to have closed this purchase in a challenging market and are excited to be working up proposals for this highly sustainable urban brownfield site.
“We will be working with Darling Associates Architects to develop a vision for the site that continues the regeneration under way in the Medway Towns.”
Cristian Postans, head of real estate at Chenavari Investment Managers, added: “Our appetite to invest in the residential sector remains strong where the demand supply in-balance is particularly evident in regions such as the South East of England.
“Eutopia Homes continue to demonstrate a great vision for the development of complex sites in great locations and we are pleased to be investing with them again.”
Recent research from CMC Markets found the Medway area had the highest increase in house prices between 2012 and 2022, at 95.7%. Rightmove data also found that between Q2 2021 and Q2 2022, asking rents in Chatham increased 21.4%, a figure surpassed only by Manchester.
