Birmingham property firm appointed to £28m London apartment scheme

Birmingham property firm Naismiths has been appointed to project manage a £28m office redevelopment in south London.

The Croydon project, called Central Cross, will see the transformation of the old office building into high quality apartments.

Nasimiths has been appointed by micro-apartment specialist Inspired Homes and in addition to project managing the scheme, it will also act as employer’s agent and quantity surveyor.

The 35,000 sq ft project includes converting the original four-storey office building into 82 new one and two bedroom apartments, under permitted development rights, with the construction of a further storey of eight penthouse apartments. The building is being re-clad and many apartments will have balconies. Practical completion is scheduled for July 2017.
 
It is the second project Manny Aparicio, director of Naismiths, has worked on with Inspired Homes. He recently completed work on a similar development of 119 apartments at Green Dragon House in the centre of Croydon.
 
He said: “We very much enjoy working with Inspired. Whilst we strive to deliver these developments as cost effectively as possible, Inspired’s design and quality-led focus is truly refreshing. We look forward to being part of Inspired’s continued success.”
 
The area around the development is being regenerated with the arrival of a £1bn Westfield shopping centre in Croydon, which will create 1.4 million sq ft of shopping, leisure and office space.