Vauxhall Motors is priming its former Luton head office for a major residential development with a sale expected by the end of the year.
The car manufacturer vacated its Griffin House headquarters last month and has instructed Colliers International to sell the 17.2-acre site, expecting unconditional offers in excess of £25m.
The site comprises 11.5 acres under Vauxhall ownership and a further 6 acres controlled by Latimer Land Luton. Together they hold 300,000 sq ft of buildings, with 33,159 sq ft that will be part-occupied generating annual rent of £470,000.
Vauxhall and Colliers are also inviting offers subject to planning consent with the option of vacant possession.
They have engaged in pre-application planning discussions with Luton Borough Council and have proposed a £300m scheme of 950 homes, with a 150-bedroom hotel and additional commercial and community space.
The masterplan proposes a combination of apartments and family townhouses with up to four bedrooms. It also provides a pathway that uses existing river access and introduces new green spaces.
Andrew White, head of residential development at Colliers International, said: “Given the size and scale of potential development here, we are expecting interest from a number of potential purchasers, including national housebuilders and specialist London and South East-focused development companies looking for large regeneration sites to deliver a range of unit types and commercial uses.”
The site, located south east of Luton town centre, is close to Luton Airport Parkway Station, which is a 20-minute journey from London’s King Cross.
Other nearby developments include Redrow’s £600m Napier Park, which will deliver 520 homes on former Vauxhall land, and Strawberry Star’s £240m, 785-apartment Lu2on scheme.
The council’s local plan has identified a need for 17,800 homes. So far, it has committed to delivering 8,500 homes and has an unmet need of 9,300 homes, presenting an opportunity for the private sector.
Housebuilders are increasingly opting for satellite towns as the capital’s unaffordable housing market pushes buyers outside the M25.
Slowing sales and the impending expiry of Help to Buy, alongside stricter planning and affordable housing policy has seen larger schemes emerging in towns such as Luton.
Why is Vauxhall downsizing?
The proposed sale of its former HQ marks Vauxhall’s exit from the town centre with operations relocated to the outskirts.
Vauxhall is looking to downsize its holdings in Luton, which stood at 1,500 acres at its height, to just 100 acres in Chalton, north Luton, dedicated to office and manufacturing.
Jaspal Singh, real estate manager at Vauxhall Motors, said: “Our European Vauxhall-Opel property strategy is to consolidate the portfolio, to be leaner and make sure that the footprint does not cost our business.
“We are trying to compress our plants and where we want to retain parts of our land, we have been looking at leasing that out. That generates income for our business that has been pumped back into the plants and it comes off the cost per car.”
The move follows PSA Group’s acquisition of Vauxhall Motors and subsequent streamlining of the business in order to bring the company back into profit.
PSA Group makes Citroën and Peugeot vehicles.
Vauxhall was the largest employer in Luton until 2002, when it closed its production line and sold 55 acres of land north of the station at Napier Park.
Vauxhall’s entire estate now sits at around 500 acres spread between major plants in Luton and Cheshire and 11 dealerships in the UK. It currently has 3,000 employees, down from 4,500 in 2017.
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