Build to Rent investor, developer and operator – PLATFORM_ – acquires a central Milton Keynes site for a future Build to Rent and office redevelopment. PLATFORM_ plans to submit a full planning application later this year.
Planning will be for a combination of Build to Rent apartments and new-build Grade A offices with a targeted BREEAM rating of ‘excellent’. The site is located on Midsummer Boulevard next to Milton Keynes Central Station – 30 minutes from London by train. The completed development is expected to have a GDV of c. £100m – and this new scheme will take the GDV of PLATFORM_’s development pipeline to over £1bn.
“We are delighted to have secured this site in Milton Keynes, where we intend to deliver high quality Build to Rent and offices in the heart of the Oxford to Cambridge Innovation Arc.
“This is another example of our flexible approach to extending our Build to Rent development portfolio, with mixed use opportunities very much on our agenda.”
Stewart Knight, Acquisitions Director, PLATFORM_
PLATFORM_ currently operates a portfolio of five Build to Rent sites held in a joint venture with Invesco Real Estate. It is currently developing an additional 1,000+ Build to Rent apartments in Cardiff, Sheffield and Glasgow. Other projects include a 464 apartment scheme in Edinburgh where planning was submitted in May 2020, and a large 8-acre site in Leeds earmarked for over 1 million sq ft of Build to Rent, private sale residential and offices.
The Milton Keynes scheme is the twelth Build to Rent project for PLATFORM_ as it continues its expansion, targeting Greater London and key regional towns and cities across the UK. This acquisition takes its operational and secured development pipeline to over 3,750 units with a completed value over £1bn.
Milton Keynes has a total population of 230,000 and is one of the fastest growing towns in the South East. Home to thousands of national and international businesses and sitting in the Oxford to Cambridge Innovation Arc, Milton Keynes ranks as one of the top ten places in the UK for research and innovation.
