Home Retail Group sells Homebase in Battersea for £52m to homes developer Fifth Capital London
The housing market in London’s Nine Elms area is booming. But Home Retail Group has decided to sell its DIY store Homebase in Battersea after receiving a £57m offer for the sought-after site.
The retailer said yesterday it had exchanged contracts to sell the huge site on York Road to Fifth Capital London, a little-known property firm set up by Marc Pennick and backed by Israeli investors.
The group will submit plans for a residential development on the two-acre site that could be worth £200m upon completion, according to Colliers International, which is advising on the deal.
Home Retail Group announced in October it planned to close a quarter of its 323 branches in the next three years, blaming an excess of retail space and the rise of a generation that had fallen out of love with DIY.
It expects to close around 25 stores in this financial year with a total of around 80 stores set to close by the end of March 2018.
The company said the deal would result in a gain on sale of around £38m being recorded as an exceptional item next year. Homebase will close in a year’s time after the deal has been completed.