Housing association Optivo has bought land at Preston Barracks in Brighton to build 369 affordable homes.
Optivo bought the site from developer U+I and hopes to start building work at the Lewes Road site in the summer.
The Preston Barracks scheme is one of the biggest regeneration projects in Brighton and Hove, with U+I working alongside Brighton University and Brighton and Hove City Council.
U+I regeneration director Simon Hesketh said “We are delighted to have secured another new partner to progress the Preston Barracks scheme.
“The new homes are much needed and this transformational project is on track to create a thriving place for people to live, work and learn, bringing tangible benefits to the local community and the city as a whole.”
Optivo land and new business director Neill Tickle said: “We’re passionate about delivering new homes and are delighted to have completed this deal with U+I.
“This is a very exciting time for Brighton and we’re proud to be involved with such an ambitious masterplan that will create jobs and positively transform the area.
“It’s Optivo’s largest land-only deal to date and we’re keen to get started on building 369 much-needed quality homes as part of a buzzing new neighbourhood.”
Another provider, Scape Student Living, is also building rooms for 555 students as part of the scheme.
Construction has already started at Preston Barracks with U+I’s first building due to be completed by the end of this year. It will offer workspace for the start-ups and small firms.
The £300 million masterplan is intended to establish the Lewes Road area as a thriving new academic and economic corridor in Brighton.
The aims include creating “a vibrant and new community with the new student beds and new homes, in addition to a business school, an entrepreneurial hub, shops, cafés, roof top bar, workshops, leisure facilities, play spaces, public squares, new pedestrian bridge and a new boardwalk to the station”.
The scheme is expected to create more than 1,500 jobs and inject more than £280 million into the local economy over the next 10 years.
Very good……..
It’s been a long time a-coming, land ownership being such a complex issue.