Lendlease beats rivals to Euston project in London

Lendlease has ben named preferred bidder on a major redevelopment around London’s Euston station.

Artist’s impression of Lendlease's plans for the Euston redevelopment.

Developer Lendlease has been unveiled as preferred bidder on a multi-billion pound urban redevelopment project around Euston station in London, bolstering its strategy of focusing on large projects in international gateway cities.

The group has picked up the key advisory role on a London redevelopment worth up to £4 billion ($7.12bn), after being selected by British authority High Speed Two for the Euston project, known as NW1.

“The redevelopment of Euston stands to be a real game-changer for commuters across London and the UK,” Lendlease chief executive international operations, Dan Labbad, said.

“Euston will be much more than a transport hub — and we’ll work closely with project partners to provide benefits to local people, foster business growth and deliver new homes,” he added.

Lendlease will work with the Greater London Authority and London Borough of Camden to develop a masterplan for, and then deliver, a 54-hectare site above and around the new station.

British authority HS2, which is charged with delivering a high-speed railway linking London with major British cities, last July revealed a shortlist of five potential partners to take forward long-term development around the station.

Lendlease beat international rivals, Argent Related’s Euston Regeneration Partnership and Canary Wharf Group with Hong Kong-listed MTR Corporation, for the job.

Australian shopping mall giant Westfield was also short-listed but both it and British group Land Securities were out of the race by last August.

Lendlease will advise and later work on mixed-use development opportunities, including homes, ­offices and retail space above and around a revamped ­station.

In total, the master development partner will lead a regeneration of the 21.85 hectare commercial and residential district, which could span 3,800 homes and 400,000 sqm of commercial space.

Lendlease on Wednesday flagged it would invest half its capital offshore as it delivered a strong result and also brushed off problems in its local construction division despite writedowns estimated at about $150m.

In a sign of its confidence in how it is positioned in residential markets locally and offshore the company flagged that it could also undertake a $500m share buyback as it unveiled a $425.6m half-year profit.

The company emphasised that it was still focused on growing offshore as there are fewer prospects of achieving such high growth locally.

Lendlease declined to comment on the Euston project last night but chief executive Steve McCann said when delivering the results the group had also moved into build-to-rent projects in Britain via a £1.5bn tie up with the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board.

The company will develop and own and manage apartments in Britain with the group delivering an initial 650 units across two buildings at its Elephant Park project in London.

Lendlease also noted it had won a project at High Road West in London’s Tottenham with an end value $1.9bn that is expected to deliver more than 2,500 homes.

Another of the group’s massive London projects, a £4bn joint venture with a local council dubbed the Haringey Development Vehicle, that would see up to 6400 homes built over two decades, hangs in the balance due to opposition from local activists.

Lendlease won a High Court battle over the project last week but its fate will not be known until after council elections in May.