'Blighted' waste land at Central Milton Keynes to be turned into £100m 17 storey blocks of flats and hotel

The final piece of land has this week been sold for a project to build hundreds of flats and two hotels near The Hub at CMK.
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The 1.8 acre site near Sainsbury's had been unused for 10 years and was bought from Homes England by investment firm Fiera Real Estate in 2017.

The company worked FRE UK worked with various stakeholders to overcome a variety of development constraints at the site, known as Aubrey Place. These included seeking planning consent for a 294 unit Build-to-Rent (BTR) residential apartment scheme called Aubrey Place as well as a 44 unit 'apartment hotel' and a 210 room standard hotel.

Investment managers Invesco are now funding the BTR block in collaboration with BTR specialist developer Packaged Living. There will be 294 apartments in total, arranged in two interlinked towers of up to 17 storeys high and connected by an 11 storey link.

Artist's impression of Aubrey PlaceArtist's impression of Aubrey Place
Artist's impression of Aubrey Place

The apartments will be solely for rent and, with just 83 parking spaces and 294 cycle storage facilities, will be marketed for people who don't need cars.

Work has already started on the site and the scheme is due to be completed in April 2022.

Earlier this year the Citizen asked Packaged Living and Invesco for details of the rental price of the flats and whether people on housing benefits would be accepted as there is a huge shortage of landlords who will take benefit tenants in MK.

An Invesco spokesman said at the time: "Under the planning permission granted for the development by Milton Keynes Council, 10 per cent of the 294 apartments will be offered at a “Discount Market Rent” (“DMR”) , which is to be 20 per cent below the market rent prevailing at the time the project is delivered.

He added: "The exact location, and size of the DMR units is subject to ongoing discussions with the Planning Department of Milton Keynes Council and so at this time it is not possible to what requirements the council will require in respect of the occupancy of these units and whether they will require the apartments to be offered to tenants on the Housing List. This will only become clear once a full agreement has been agreed with the council."

Meanwhile, the nearby 210 bedroom hotel is currently under construction by Vastint and will be operated under the Moxy brand. Fernbrook real estate developers have now acquired the 10 storey apartment hotel.

Fiera Real Estate says the former waste ground will have a value of almost £100 million once all the developments are completed.

Director Steven Wright said: “We are delighted to have enabled development to a site that has been blighted for over a decade. The investment to the area will be a material benefit to the Milton Keynes economy and will deliver much needed bed space to the central location."