Aldermaston Manor snapped up for less than £5m
AN historic Grade-II listed building could be converted into housing after Aldermaston Manor Park and its 140- acre estate was snapped up for less than £5m.
The estate entered administration in 2012 and Reading Football Club had been in discussions about acquiring the venue as a new training ground. However, the club pulled out last March.
This month, the 140-acre estate, which includes an 85,000 sq ft office building, the Grade-II listed Aldermaston Manor house and a 10-acre lake has been bought for £4.7m by Praxis Holdings Limited, a property investment company based in the Isle of Man.
The site comes with extant planning permission for an additional 125,000 sq ft of offices.
The company said that it intends to substantially reconfigure, refurbish and reposition the estate over the next two years and that it will either seek an operator or consider a residential conversion.
The investment manager at Praxis, Jack Burgess said: “One hundred and forty acres of prime Thames Valley real estate with 150,000 sq ft of buildings and 125,000 sq ft of unused planning consent for under £5m looked like exceptional value. We bought it very quickly, even by our standards.”
The company has acquired more than £400m of real estate since 2009, much of it in the South East and Thames Valley.
The news was met positively by the manager of the Hinds Head pub in Aldermaston, Shaun Patterson.
He said:”In my eyes if it’s property then it’s really good for us and even if it stays as a hotel, it’s still good. I think it’s a good move and there’s enough business for everybody.
“If they maintain the grounds then it will give our guests somewhere to go for a walk and it will create more work. I think it’s a very positive move.”
The chairman of Aldermaston parish council, David Shirt said: “I don’t think there would be a problem with converting the hotel into flats because it is an established use.
“The feedback from West Berkshire is that there is no real increase in the number of people, but if they applied to change the offices into housing then that’s a different ball game. The main thing is that they can get on with it and start restoration work. Our main hope is that the grounds remain viable and that we still have access.”
In 1985, cement manufacturer Blue Circle Industries bought the 137-acre Aldermaston Park site, and converted the Grade II manor house into a hotel and conference centre.
The company also built an office complex, called Portland House, at the site, but relocated the majority of its staff to London in 1988.
Proposals to develop part of Aldermaston Manor to include 38 residential apartments were rejected by the district council and thrown out by the Government planning inspector in 2004.
