Station Hill: £500m Reading development gets new owners

The £500m development features a large amount of public open space

A major housing and retail development at the start of the Crossrail line has been bought by US developers for an estimated £70m.

A £500m plan for offices, shops and piazza at Station Hill in Reading has been dogged with delays since the land was first acquired in 2005.

Property firm Lincoln MGT has snapped up the highly sought-after development, becoming its third owner in 13 years.

Reading's council said it would "press" for an "early start" to building work.

Lincoln MTG, a combined venture between Lincoln Property Company and investment firm MGT, bought the site.

Planning permission for the six-and-a-half acre area was granted in January 2015 after previous development plans failed, so much of the site has already been demolished.

About 10% of the 450 residential units will be classed as affordable homes

The land was put up for sale at £70m last year, and the purchase price is reportedly very close to that figure.

Troy Javaher, from Lincoln Property Company, said the site's "incredible location", directly opposite the main entrance to Reading Station, made it one of the most "strategically important" building locations outside London.

The land was previously owned by Sir John Madejski, the former owner of Reading FC, in 2005, before being sold to Sackville Developments in 2013.

Retail and leisure units are planned throughout the ground floor of the site

The development has not been without its problems, since that date, with nearby companies threatening legal actions over the a potential loss of light in 2016, and fears from Historic England it would encroach too close to a nearby church.

Versions of the proposal also won approval in 2008 and 2011, but neither got off the ground.

Councillor Tony Page, of Reading Borough Council, described the delays to the site as "frustrating".

"We have a unprepossessing site, desperately in need of regeneration, and we hope today's announcement will up the tempo for developing the site".