Persimmon Homes has won a bid to buy the first chunk of a £500 million residential development site in west London where troubled camera giant Kodak once employed 6000 staff at the height of its powers.
The housebuilder has exchanged contracts to buy a 20-acre plot called Harrow View West — where planning permission is in place for more than 300 homes — from real estate group Land Securities.
A price of approximately £50 million was agreed, the Evening Standard understands.
Selling agent Savills was seeking offers of more than £35 million. The land forms part of the famous Kodak camera production plant, which covers roughly 60 acres — about the same size as Harrow town centre.
Kodak has been at the site since 1890 but teamed up with Land Securities seven years ago to make use of redundant space.
A masterplan is in place for a total of 985 homes and 135,000 square feet of shops. Further chunks of the site will be put up for sale later this year, but Kodak will continue operations there too.
All parties today declined to comment.
