Majority of Maidenhead Magnet site bought for rental homes by Canadian firm

Part of the ongoing Magnet Leisure Centre redevelopment in Maidenhead has been sold off to a new developer, which will provide exclusively rented accommodation at the site.

Starlight Investments, a Canada-based real estate company, has purchased more than half of the 425 homes planned for the site from developer Countryside Properties (UK) Limited.

Magnet Leisure Centre, built in 1975, was demolished three years ago to make way for hundreds of homes in five tower blocks as part of a wider regeneration of Maidenhead town centre.  

Daniel King from Vistry Group, which owns Countryside, said the company would now be working with Starlight and Windsor and Maidenhead council to help ‘realise the full potential of the site’.

Starlight Investments’ Jonnie Milich said the purchase of the Maidenhead site was ‘an exciting addition’ to the company’s ‘commuter belt strategy’.

An artist's impression of the completed St Cloud Way project. 

The St Cloud Way site will become the second major housing project to be mainly rented accommodation, following the completion of the entirely for rent 429-flat One Maidenhead development in 2024.

The first new tower block at St Cloud Way features 73 flats and is expected to be completed by December, Starlight said in a statement

The Toronto-headquartered company said it expects the remaining buildings to be completed by the end of 2026.

The total number of homes at St Cloud Way has been revised down from 434 to 425 due to changes with public spaces on the Startlight section of the site.

Starlight said its development would deliver 255 rental properties across three blocks, between four and eleven storeys tall, each with a private balcony.

A number of townhouses are also expected to be delivered through the scheme in addition to the flats which will be up to three bedrooms in size. Starlight’s properties will have access to 191 spaces in an underground car park.

A fitness centre, lounges, co-working areas and a ‘landscaped podium garden’ will also be available to residents, the company said in a statement.

Starlight Investments’ head of UK residential Jonnie Milich said: “This acquisition reflects our continued commitment to delivering new high-quality rental housing in growing UK markets,”

“Maidenhead’s connectivity, economic strength, and regeneration vision make it an ideal location for long-term investment and community building and is an exciting addition to our commuter belt strategy.”

Countryside is the developer behind several major construction projects in central Maidenhead, including the 146-home Watermark development located beside St Ives Road and York Road.

Mr King, Vistry Group’s London Divisional Chair, said: “This deal exemplifies our partnership-led approach, working with institutional investors and public sector partners to deliver high-quality rental communities in resilient, well-connected locations.

“Combining innovative placemaking, extensive amenity provision and future-ready design features, we look forward to working with Starlight Investments and the Royal Borough of Windsor & Maidenhead to realise the full potential of the transformative St Cloud Way regeneration scheme.”