TWO major investors have agreed to fund a build-to-rent development of hundreds of homes on a landmark site in Glasgow city centre.


Apache Capital Partners and Chicago-based real-estate investment management firm Harrison Street are to fund the Holland Park development, which will see the former Strathclyde Police headquarters on Pitt Street replaced by four apartment blocks providing 433 homes for rent.


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The project will be delivered and managed “over a long-term horizon” by Moda Living, a UK investor, developer and operator in the build-to-rent housing sector.


Demolition works on the site were completed last March. The construction project is due to be completed in late 2023.


The project is the fifth in a build-to-rent joint venture between  London-based  real-estate investor and developer Apache Capital, which is backed by NFU Mutual, and Harrison Street.


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In addition to Holland Park in Glasgow, current Moda neighbourhoods being funded by the joint venture include The Lexington in Liverpool, The Mercian in Birmingham, New York Square in Leeds, and Springside in Edinburgh, representing a total of 2,322 homes.


Apache Capital and Moda Living purchased the Holland Park site in October 2016.
As well as new homes, Holland Park will feature15,000 sq ft of “internal amenities”, including communal lounges and “health and wellbeing zones”. The development will also include 31,000 sq ft of outdoor amenity space.


Residents will have access to “landscaped terraces overlooking the Glasgow skyline”, the partners behind the project noted. They added that mixed commercial and leisure space would be provided on the ground floor, including cafes, bars, restaurants and co-working facilities. 


Paul Bashir, chief executive of Harrison Street’s European business, said: “Glasgow is a key commercial centre within the UK, with a strong local economy that includes thriving financial services, technology and life sciences sectors...However, there is a significant under-supply of high-quality rental housing.”
John Dunkerley, chief executive and co-founder of Apache Capital Partners, said the resilience of build-to-rent as an asset class had been further demonstrated, amid the Covid-19 coronavirus crisis.