Croydon appoints Laing for regeneration venture
- Published: 10 June 2008 12:16
- Author: David Blackman
- More by this Author
- Last Updated: 10 June 2008 12:25
A south London council has picked construction giant John Laing to be its partner in a groundbreaking urban regeneration joint venture.
Croydon LBC's cabinet yesterday approved the selection of John Laing Projects & Developments, a division of John Laing plc, as its preferred private sector partner for a £450m project to revamp the borough's town centre and build a new headquarters for the council.
Under the 50:50 joint venture - known as an asset-backed vehicle - Croydon will invest land and John Laing equity.
The £450m project will regenerate four key sites in Croydon town centre, delivering 1314 new homes, half of which will be housed in two new 40 storey towers.
Council's profit pays for building and costs
Under the joint venture plans, the council's believes that its share of the profit on the development will pay for the building and its running costs for many years.
The partnership, which should be signed in October, will be a 50:50 limited liability partnership with all profits shared equally between the two partners.
Through the partnership the council will maintain ongoing control of the town centre's regeneration by retaining an interest as a partner-landowner as well as via its planning powers.
The council has the option to add additional sites into the partnership as and when further development is required over the next 25 years.
Tim Pollard (Con), Croydon's deputy leader, said: "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."
