R&F Properties is in talks on a deal to ditch its £1.3bn Nine Elms development in a bid to avoid loan defaults.
The developer is looking to sell the site at One Nine Elms, SW8, to London One, a special purpose vehicle owned by Chinese billionaire Cheung Chung-kiu, chairman of CC Land Holdings and the scheme’s joint venture partner. The freehold interest in the property in its existing condition has been valued at £1bn.
R&F Properties, which is known for its portfolio of luxury hotel brands including Ritz-Carlton, Grand Hyatt and Conrad Hotels & Resorts, is keen to offload the site to rid itself of outstanding loans on the premises.
This would help in “easing the liability and interest burden” of the company and would be a step towards “enhancing the overall financial position of the group”, R&F said in a release on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Once complete, the mixed-use development will comprise two buildings, named River Tower and City Tower. These will include 437 private residential units across both towers, with 57 affordable housing units in the 57-storey City Tower that have been sold to Thames Valley Housing.
The 42-storey River Tower will include a 203-bedroom, five-star Park Hyatt hotel – the first in London.
Work is expected to be completed in April 2024.
The troubled scheme received a £770m-plus cash injection to help deliver the site back in June 2022, after development stalled when contractor Multiplex complained of late payments. Précis Capital Partners originated the loan and arranged a consortium of lenders, including funds managed by Apollo Global Management, Carlyle’s global credit platform, Crosstree Real Estate Partners and Précis Capital Partners itself.
R&F Properties and CC Land bought the project from Dalian Wanda Group for £470m in 2017.
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