City & Country has completed the purchase of the 47.5-acre Kingswood site in Surrey from Legal & General (L&G).
City & Country plans to redevelop the site, which includes a Grade II listed building and the former St Monica’s School, to deliver 166 private homes and 116 retirement properties.
The developer will resubmit for planning permission in the autumn, changing the existing consent for a retirement village.
Plans for Kingswood also include a leisure centre using some of the current facilities, such as the swimming pool and tennis courts.
Additionally, City & Country intends to restore the former L&G House and St Monica’s School into homes, but in the short term, will offer them as office and co-working space.
Simon Marner, land and property director for City & Country, said: “We are extremely pleased to have completed the purchase of Kingswood – a site of significant local interest that has been vacant for a considerable amount of time, with the heritage buildings falling into disrepair.
“The site has great potential for us to deliver a high-class development to provide housing and facilities to complement the local area and for the benefit of the local community.
“Existing planning permission has been in place for half a decade, and we hope that with this acquisition City & Country can finally deliver on longstanding ambitions for Kingswood.”
Marner added: “In the coming months, we will be preparing detailed plans for Kingswood, to enable us to submit new planning applications.
“These will be based on the principles of the already consented care home scheme, but which will provide a different mix of uses, making the scheme more viable and deliverable.
“City & Country has a long track record in handling complex heritage sites such as Kingswood and look forward to embarking on this exciting new project.”
