Godfrey Bradman, the 1980s property tycoon, is hoping to make a large-scale return to the development world with a bid for Battersea Power Station in south London.
Bradman, who built Broadgate Circle in the City in the 1980s and in the early 2000s made a failed attempt to redevelop Elephant & Castle, SE1, is on the hunt for a backer to help him buy the iconic south London site.
Knight Frank and Ernst & Young officially brought the 40-acre landmark to market this month.
Battersea Power Station was placed in the hands of administrators at E&Y in December after owner Treasury Holdings, through its Battersea Power Station Shareholder Vehicle, failed to repay debts of more than £500m to lenders including the National Asset Management Agency and Lloyds Banking Group.
Sources claimed that Bradman might team up with Hong Kong tycoon Victor Hwang, the backer of the station’s former owner, Parkview International, which sold the site to Treasury for £400m in 2006.
Hwang is also a junior lender on the power station through his Oriental Property and is owed around £180m, which has raised concerns that the investor may have an unfair advantage in the bidding war to buy the site.
However, sources close to the sellers said: “Hwang would be treated the same as the other interested parties, with no pre-exemption or exclusivity rights.”
Bradman has been seeking a return to property development since 2007, when he launched regeneration firm Metropolitan & Suburban with former Howard de Walden Estate boss Andrew Ashenden and former secretary of state for trade and industry Lord Young of Graffham.
Last year, he was among a handful of bidders battling to buy One Blackfriars, a £600m residential and hotel development project on the South Bank.
KF and E&Y are scouring the globe for buyers for Battersea Power Station and have said that they expect a sale to be to a joint venture comprising UK development expertise and overseas equity.
A number of parties have already shown interest in the £5bn project, including Capital & Counties, Malaysian property group SP Setia, and Chelsea Football Club with Mike Hussey’s Almacantar.
Consented plans for Battersea Power Station include 3,700 homes, 1.6m sq ft of offices and 500,000 sq ft of shops and restaurants.
First-round bids are being called for on 4 May.
Nick.whitten@estatesgazette.com
