Starlight tops out 492-home Mercantile build-to-rent scheme in Basildon town centre

Starlight Investments has topped out The Mercantile, its 492-home build-to-rent scheme in Basildon town centre, with contractor Ernest Park reaching the highest structural point of the development that broke ground in June 2025.

The Toronto-headquartered investor announced the milestone on 4 November. The scheme sits in Basildon's Market Square, near the town's railway station, and takes its name from the site's history as a place of trade, Starlight said.

The Mercantile comprises three residential blocks of one- and two-bedroom flats above street-level commercial and retail space. Starlight describes the blocks as mid-rise; lender Maslow Capital describes them as three interconnected towers of 12 to 17 storeys linked by a ground-floor podium.

Neil Strelitz MRICS, Co-founder and Director of Orwell Real Estate, which developed the scheme, said: "Bringing together a close collaboration with Starlight, a committed contractor in Ernest Park, and strong support from Basildon Council has allowed us to deliver nearly 500 new homes at pace."

The scheme

Starlight puts the commercial floorspace at about 16,000 sq ft; Maslow Capital's loan announcement gives 1,651.7 sq m. Maslow also records 1,218 sq m of shared resident amenities.

Planned amenities include a gym, yoga studio, cinema, co-working space, residents' lounge, private dining room, games room, golf simulator, rooftop garden and landscaped podium, along with bike storage and resident parking, according to Starlight.

Maslow's portfolio page says the scheme targets an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of A or B, using air source heat pumps and LED lighting.

Jonathan Tizzard, Assistant Director, Property, Assets & Development at Basildon Borough Council, said: "The topping out of The Mercantile is a significant milestone for Basildon and a clear indication of the confidence that investors and developers have in our borough."

The funding

Maslow Capital announced on 19 December 2024 that it had completed a £74m development loan for the scheme, introduced by Karis Capital, for a joint venture of Orwell Real Estate and Housing Growth Partnership (HGP). HGP injected £12m of equity, and the project was forward-sold to Starlight, Maslow said.

According to Maslow Capital, the Basildon loan was the fifth project Karis Capital had worked on with Orwell since 2019. James Hutchinson, Investment Director at HGP, said the partnership backs ambitious projects that address local housing shortages.

Starlight took on the Basildon scheme as part of a £500m acquisition of three communities totalling 1,541 homes, announced in November 2024, which it said would take its UK portfolio to over 3,300 suites. The other two are towers in Manchester.

Scheme	Homes
Castlefield, Manchester (60 storeys)	532
Greengate, Manchester (40 storeys)	517
The Mercantile, Basildon	492

At acquisition, Starlight said the Basildon site sits within the town's £600m regeneration masterplan area and is about 35 minutes by rail from central London.

Starlight's UK platform

The Basildon scheme is one of three rental communities under construction within Starlight's UK BTR Fund II, which closed on 10 September 2026 with £680m of capital commitments across the fund and ancillary vehicles, the company said. The fund is partially deployed.

Starlight said in June 2025 that it had nine BTR projects under development across six UK cities with a portfolio of 4,000 rental suites; by September 2026 it put its UK platform at 12 BTR communities spanning development through to leasing and operation.

In its topping-out announcement, Starlight said its UK residential portfolio includes about 4,000 homes and more than £1.1bn of assets under management, and that it is working towards a target of more than 10,000 homes. The company said that once its new communities are delivered it expects to be among the UK's top four BTR operators by scale.

Starlight targets BTR projects in London commuter belt markets and major UK cities. Globally, it describes itself as an owner, developer and asset manager of over 70,000 multi-residential suites and over 7m sq ft of commercial space, with CAD $30bn of assets under management.

Jonnie Milich, Head of UK Residential at Starlight, said the milestone was an important step towards completing The Mercantile. Starlight has not given a completion date for the 492 homes.