Amro Partners and NTT UD team up for co-living project

A new joint venture partnership between Amro Partners and NTT UD Europe will fund The Rex in London, which will be the first co-living building in the UK to achieve BREEAM Outstanding status.

What The Rex co-living project in Kingston will look like

The JV will fund the development of an £80 million, 210-unit co-living project directly opposite Kingston train station. It will be developed by Amro Partners and operated by Amro Living, and it represents the first foray into the UK residential market by NTT UD Europe, a subsidiary of Japanese real estate developer NTT Urban Development.

The Rex will be “the first of what both parties intend to be a number of joint ventures in the UK residential market,” said Raj Kotecha, chairman & CEO, Amro Partners.

Work on site has already started on The Rex, which will be pioneering from an ESG perspective. As well as achieving BREEAM outstanding status it is targeting Fitwel 3*, WiredScore platinum and ActiveScore platinum ratings.

The project will see part of the existing substructure and superstructure retained to maximise embodied carbon reuse, making it one of Europe’s most sustainable buildings on completion in January 2025.

“NTT UDE are strongly aligned with our ESG-driven values and share our vision to create a best-in-class sustainable residential building within the UK residential space,” said Tom Donnachie, managing director, UK Investment, Amro Partners. “This capital partnership is a great show of strength for the asset class.”

Amro’s co-living model, with extensive shared facilities including a residents’lounge, communal kitchens and dining rooms, a wellness centre, co-working spaces and a rooftop terrace, is designed to meet the needs of renters in Kingston.

The housing supply in the area is already under pressure and demand is only going increase with projects such as the Unilever Global HQ opening in early-2025, which is expected to bring 2,000 new jobs to the town centre.

Residential living specialist Amro Partners has over 2,000 purpose-built rental homes under development across Greater London and is actively seeking further land opportunities in London, Manchester and Birmingham.

Amro is on-site with a 278-unit Build to Rent project in Ealing, West London with Pension Insurance Corporation, and has recently submitted a planning application for the creation of a £200 million Build to Rent project in Croydon, South London, delivering 455 new homes and shared amenity spaces.

NTT UD’s global expansion started in 2009 with the acquisition of an office building in London. Since then the group has increased its exposure to real estate and plans to continue building up a portfolio of income-producing assets in the UK. The Rex co-living project is its first residential investment.

“Through our partnership with Amro, whose stance on environmental impact and business approach are highly compatible with ours, we plan to accelerate the expansion of our business in the UK,” said Yasutake Horinouchi, member of the board and head of global business at NTT Urban Development.

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