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UK: Amro Partners’ plan for a 447-key BTR development has been shelved in favour of turning the former Croydon Park Hotel into an aparthotel.
Planning consent obtained in 2023 intended to turn the 211-bed south London hotel into the proposed 39-storey Botanical House, after a joint venture between Amro and Flemyn acquired the vacant property for £24 million.
Now, instead of a near-full demolition of the existing building, Amro will redevelop the structure for aparthotel use. Retaining the extant frame will make for an ESG-centred approach, reducing embodied carbon by abstaining from demolition.
Completion of the Croydon scheme is planned for the first quarter of 2027.
Amro UK investment director Tom Donnachie said that the decision to pivot was based on market factors. Higher interest rates, rising construction costs and regulatory change affected the scheme enough to warrant a change in plan.
“As a custodian of capital, we take a disciplined approach to reassessing our projects to ensure they remain aligned with market conditions and deliver the best possible outcomes for our partners and stakeholders,” Donnachie said. “Rather than waiting for conditions to realign, we chose to pivot to a strategy better suited to today’s market.”
“We are seeing strong structural demand for high-quality, flexible accommodation in well-connected London locations, alongside a constrained pipeline of new supply,” Donnachie said. “Repositioning the existing structure significantly accelerates delivery compared with a ground-up scheme, allowing us to capture demand sooner while improving capital efficiency and reducing development risk.”
Amro has changed directions on a project before, with its recently-completed coliving development The Rex originally intended for PBSA.
Highlights:
- Amro Partners has abandoned its planned 447-unit build-to-rent (BTR) scheme at the former Croydon Park Hotel site, opting instead to reposition the existing structure into an aparthotel.
- The revised approach retains the existing building frame rather than proceeding with near-full demolition for the previously approved 39-storey Botanical House.
- Completion of the Croydon aparthotel is targeted for the first quarter of 2027, with higher interest rates, rising construction costs and regulatory change as factors driving the pivot.
- Amro has pivoted on other projects such as its recently-completed coliving development The Rex, which was originally planned as purpose-built student accommodation.
