The JV Journey of Watford Riverwell

Kier Property was selected by Watford Borough Council as their Joint Venture (JV) development partner to deliver the £500m Watford Riverwell scheme, regenerating 70 acres of land in West Watford.

The infrastructure already delivered by the JV has been significant, notably:

Thomas Sawyer Way, the main route through the scheme, improving blue light access from the M1 to Watford Hospital, providing access to the new residential and commercial areas and kick-starting the entire project.

A 1,455 space, multi-storey car park completed in March 2022, reducing pressure on the hospital, football club and surrounding residential areas.

Opening up a neglected stretch of the River Colne that runs through the site, created a haven for wildlife and an attractive focal point for the new neighbourhood and the wider Watford community, alongside an open park with walkways and an outside gym known as Oxley Park.

Early residential delivery has offered truly mixed-tenure housing:

  • Two successful apartment schemes: ‘Woodlands’, completed in 2019 in partnership with Watford Community Housing Trust (WCHT) comprising 95 apartments in landscaped grounds, as well as ‘Waterside’, a Bellway scheme offering 144 homes which completed in 2022. Both are fully occupied. A total of 551 homes have been delivered.

Mayfield Retirement Village, delivered by Audley Group, which opened in 2022 and offers 255 one-and-two-bedroom later living apartments, along with communal gardens, a swimming pool, gym and café-bistro.

The Avenues housing site is currently being built, again alongside WCHT with Phase 1 nearing completion and 100% sold.

 

 

Commercially, a 72,500 sq ft Trade City scheme completed in 2017 and is home to occupiers Harley Davidson, Topps Tiles and Screwfix.

Watford’s Future – Building Tomorrow with Watford Borough Council and Kier Property

Ultimately, the JV is set to deliver over 1,400 residential homes and nearly 175,000 sq ft of commercial space. The partnership is now focusing on the next five years and has recently secured planning consent to deliver a new Safestore. The new 10,764 sq ft building is scheduled to open to the public in mid-2025 and will be a BREEAM Excellent building with a 14.3% net gain in biodiversity.

 

David Bridges, Kier Property’s residential regeneration – managing director commented:

“Riverwell continues to be an exciting scheme for Kier Property and Watford Borough Council.

Being part of this JV has allowed us to significantly transform the local area. That transformation will continue over coming years – in December 2023, we sold 1.75 acres to West Hertfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust to allow for the delivery of a new hospital and we are also looking at further new phases, including the new Riverwell Neighbourhood Square which will add significant amenity to the area and for which our team have recently completed a public consultation exercise.”

 

 

For more information please contact Sharon Mitchell on: sharon.mitchell@kier.co.uk