Living sector developer and operator Fusion Group has exchanged contracts to acquire Dockside Canada Water’s Plot B from Art-Invest Real Estate, a project that went to market in June with a guide price of £400M.

The site has been purchased as part of Fusion’s joint venture with alternative investment manager Cheyne Capital, and the acquisition will comprise 742 purpose-built student accommodation beds and 79 C3 affordable homes. The transaction is expected to complete before the end of the year.

Dockside Canada Water is a new 1.5M SF urban quarter, conceived as the gateway to British Land and AustralianSuper’s 53-acre new town centre in Canada Water. Art-Invest Real Estate will retain an interest in Dockside’s Plot B.

Art-Invest Real Estate completed its acquisition of the Canada Water site from Notting Hill Genesis for £140M in 2020. Previously, The Shard developer Sellar had been appointed to co-develop the 4.5-acre site, with an outline masterplan for three commercial-led buildings totalling circa 1.2M SF.

There was also an existing consent for 1,000 residential units, including the 234 units and a new Decathlon retail unit that Sellar had completed in summer 2018.

Dockside Canada Water Plot B is the eighth development in which Fusion and Cheyne have partnered and their third in London. It follows the joint venture’s two schemes in Brent Cross Town — the first of which opened its doors to students in September, and the transaction for the second, which completed in October.

Fusion said its current forward development pipeline provides the potential to deliver a further 9,000 beds across the UK living sector by 2030, resulting in a minimum of 12,000 operational beds under management.

“Whilst we continue to see market challenges in delivering living sector assets in the current economic and regulatory environment, we have found a way with Art-Invest to unlock this opportunity at Canada Water,” Fusion Group CEO Richard Pilkington said in a statement.