Advised by local property specialist Preston Bennett, Jewish Blind & Disabled has won planning consent for its new building after a six-year search for a site. Pictured far right (from left) are Preston Bennett chairman Ronnie Preston, JBD chief executive Hazel Kaye and Village Homes directors Warren Rosenberg and Mervyn Graver, in front of what will be the entrance to the Bushey complex.
"Because of our considerable contacts in the business," says Mr Preston, "we were aware that a quality local developer, Village Homes, had been trying to develop a site in Bushey, but had been unsuccessful after a number of planning submissions. We are in the business of putting people together and in this case it seemed that there was a possibility of Village Homes and Jewish Blind & Disabled reaching a satisfactory agreement. It seemed a perfect solution."
To be built by Village Homes, the new facility is due to open mid-2012. There will be 41 apartments - 39 one-bedroom mobility apartments for physically disabled or vision impaired people of all ages, plus two apartments for the full-time on-site house managers. There will also be a guest suite for visiting family or friends, as well as welcoming communal areas, landscaped gardens with raised sensory area and roof terrace.
Ms Kaye says: "We are delighted that we have already raised the fantastic sum of £7.6 million toward this project at Bushey but obviously we still need to raise another £3 million. Thanks to the foresight, professionalism and expertise of Preston Bennett and Village Homes, this development will increase our projects to seven purpose-built complexes. This means we will soon be able to give a total of 359 tenants their own personal key to independence."
● The Carmelite Monastery in Temple Fortune, north-west London is for sale, for redevelopment into houses and flats. Metro Construction is asking £15 million for the 1.2ha property on Bridge Lane, NW11. It comes with planning consent for five new-build two-storey six-bedroom detached houses and conversion of the monastery into 25 apartments and two two-bedroom houses. There will also be 13 affordable housing units. Agent is DE&J Levy.
● The Carlton Industrial Estate in Barnsley, Yorkshire, is a star lot at new London auction house Lambert Smith Hampton. Headed by Simon Riggall, who brought the auction team from Colliers CRE, LSH has sales on November 10 in London and December 1 in South Yorkshire, offering a total of 130 lots. The Carlton estate has 12 units let, producing rents of £86,600 pa. Two units are vacant and estimated rental value for the whole is £97,000 pa. LSH is also selling the freehold of a 1.3-acre car park, producing £63,400 a year with 3.5 per cent annual uplift.
● Real Estates reports five months of success at its new Totteridge office. "Although, as we are all aware, current media reports are of 'double dip' and 'house prices continue to fall', Real Estates is able to report that - although the market is not in the boom as it was up to the first half of 2007 - there are still transactions taking place in areas such as Totteridge, Arkley, Whetstone and Mill Hill," says Real Estates' Stephen Barnett. "In the period of five months, we are pleased to report that sales to date total approximately £20 million, which proves that the doom and gloom is not as bad as we are all led to believe."
