Addleshaw Goddard has advised Brighton University on its latest expansion with the acquisition of the Preston Barracks site in Lewes Road, Brighton.

The site, which will be developed in a joint venture with Cathedral, will form the core of the University’s £150 million redevelopment master plan, which covers three adjacent sites and will provide new employment space, academic buildings, student accommodation with1,300 bedrooms, 350 quality new homes and 25,000 sq ft of retail space.

The news follows the government’s announcement on 7 July that it intends injecting £7.7m into the barracks development as part of a £17.4m investment in University of Brighton research and buildings.

The Addleshaw Goddard team was led by partner Peter Hardy with support from Gary Sector and Kathryn Green.

The complex arrangement will see the council selling the freehold of the Preston Barracks site to the university, which will come with a lease agreed for Cathedral to develop the Barracks site, and also land already owned by the university next door, the car park of the adjacent Watts Building, and the Mithras House car park opposite.

Preston Barracks itself will be the site for 350 housing units, 20 per cent of which will be affordable homes; 500 student bedrooms, a Central Research Laboratory (CRL), and a health centre.

The Mithras House car park site will be turned into new academic buildings and 552 student bedrooms, alongside a small amount for retail.

The Watts Building car park has space for future academic expansion, plus retail, and 264 student bedrooms.

The employment-led scheme, supported by Brighton and Hove Council, will create 740 new jobs over a 10 year period, and has at is centre the 55,000 sq ft CRL, a business incubation centre and cutting-edge facility that will support new hi-tech and design-led manufacturing start-up companies and entrepreneurs.

The agreement plans for the scheme can be worked on in more detail, which will be concluded subject to planning permission and the partners meeting agreed conditions.

Peter Hardy, partner at Addleshaw Goddard, said:

“Unlocking the development potential of existing sites owed by universities is essential for their future growth – and the continuing global pre-eminence of UK academic institutions.

“Partnerships between the private sector, universities and local authorities are increasing as more recognize their potential for expansions and redevelopment – and when done in the right way these can help regenerate entire towns, not just universities.

"For us as a firm, this is yet another example of the broad range of work we
do in the student accommodation sector, and showcases our ability to deal with a complex structure of multiple use development and general residential uses as well as multiparty management arrangements."