surrey council offloads former hq 350 home resi revamp

by Jessica Middleton-Pugh, James Buckley

Deal agreed to sell council’s 270,000 sq ft former Kingston base

What RER London and Revcap have agreed terms to buy County Hall in Kingston
Why Plans to convert the 270,000 sq ft building into a 350-home resi scheme
What next The deal is expected to simultaneously exchange and complete by the end of Q1

Surrey County Council has agreed a deal to sell its former longstanding headquarters in a move that will pave the way for a major residential redevelopment of the 270,000 sq ft building, React News can reveal.

Tim Farrow’s RER London is teaming up with Revcap to buy the historic Grade II listed County Hall building in Kingston for in excess of the £20m guide price.

Developer RER, which earlier this month sold Leven House, a riverside plot in Tower Hamlets with planning consent for a £250m scheme, in partnership with a subsidiary of Christian Candy’s CPC Group, is expected to simultaneously exchange and complete on the purchase by the end of Q1.

RER and Revcap are already working up plans to redevelop County Hall into a residential-led, mixed-use scheme comprising around 350 homes, and are expecting to submit a full planning application later this year.

Surrey County Council announced in 2019 that it was set to leave County Hall in the London borough of Kingston, after more than 50 years outside the county’s boundaries.

The council voted to officially designate the former Canon building in Reigate as its new “civic heart” from January 1 2021.

The council had initially intended to relocate to Midas House in Woking in a move that would have mainly been funded by the sale of County Hall. However, having subsequently deemed the move unsuitable, it bought the former Canon UK headquarters off Cockshot Hill in Reigate, along with 20 acres of land last summer, after Canon relocated to Uxbridge.

A council spokesperson said in 2019 that its relocation from County Hall was partly driven by the capex required to bring the building up to modern HQ standards.

County Hall, built in the 1890s, found itself outside the county and in the Royal Borough of Kingston Upon Thames after boundary changes in 1964.

Savills acted for RER and Revcap; Avison Young advised the council.