Developer HUB and Bridges Fund Management, a sustainable and impact investor, have acquired 45 Beech Street on the edge of the iconic Barbican Estate for £30m, with plans to refurbish the existing building to deliver a residential scheme.

The deal is the eleventh for the pair, and builds on the recent acquisition of another City of London site on Ludgate Hill. Both schemes will be developed by HubCap, a wholly owned subsidiary of HUB focused on low carbon building reuse and emerging housing models. HubCap currently has two other projects under development in Edinburgh.

The building is an exciting acquisition that will add to HUB and Bridges’ successful track record of delivering well-designed, sustainable community-led residential schemes, following their recently consented project in Hammersmith and Fulham, in partnership with Women’s Pioneer Housing.

Renowned London firm Allford Hall Monaghan Morris (AHMM) has been appointed as the architect for the project, sharing HUB and Bridges’ focus on delivering outstanding places that maintain the integrity of their surroundings.

Community consultation

The building sits within the overall Barbican masterplan, and is currently used as commercial office space. The redevelopment will allow the important character of the building to be preserved, whilst also saving significant amounts of embodied carbon. HubCap intend to comprehensively engage with residents to ensure the building is improved in a considerate manner, with community consultation on plans for the site to begin in the coming weeks.

Miles Keeley, Principal at HubCap, said: “The Barbican has a proud history of pioneering city centre living and public realm, including the YMCA it housed from the 1970s. This scheme will deliver much-needed living spaces to the area on a site that is in need of an upgrade to meet changing building and energy performance standards. We look forward to developing the site in a way that’s authentic and respectful of this beloved place, alongside Bridges.

“HubCap launched in 2022, as part of a strategic vision to build a platform to deliver and operate emerging living models, with a focus on repurposing existing buildings, to bring vibrant and highly sustainable communities to urban areas that need reinvigorating – Beech Street is our largest deal to date.”

Explore new models

Simon Ringer, Head of Property Funds at Bridges Fund Management, said: “London has a pressing need for more high-quality living space to house its growing population. Since 2014 we have partnered with HUB on a number of schemes that are on course to deliver more than 3,300 lower-cost and affordable homes with values of over £1 bn.

“As part of our mission to help build a more sustainable and inclusive economy, we continue to explore new models with the potential to deliver high-quality housing while reducing carbon emissions. So we’re excited to be working again with HUB on this new Beech Street development: By investing our investors’ capital in needs-driven sectors like this, we are able to deliver our combined targets of strong financial returns for our investors alongside very positive social and environmental outcomes.”

DP9 is acting as planning consultant and Knight Frank advised on the deal. HK London and Michael Elliot acted for the seller.