Praxis Unveils Proposals To Redevelop Offices At Kings Hill

Plans have been unveiled to redevelop five office buildings at Kings Hill, with proposals for them to become sites for new homes while refurbishing other buildings to make them attractive to today’s businesses.

The proposals are part of the owner’s masterplan to sustain employment at Kings Hill and meet the demand for new homes. Praxis, which owns 14 office buildings at the development near West Malling, has been marketing five of the buildings to potential office occupiers since purchasing them in December 2024.

Tenants for vacant space have not been secured for the offices at 1, 11, 32 and 34 Tower View and 50 Kings Hill Avenue. However, Praxis has been successful in retaining existing companies by relocating them into space it has already refurbished to the right size.

Each of the office buildings proposed for redevelopment were designed to offer large open-plan space and were built more than 20 years ago.

The proposals to redevelop some of the office buildings for up to 260 new homes coincide with a £6.75m programme of refurbishment and renovation to upgrade three of Praxis’ 14 office buildings. A further £2m has been earmarked for the refurbishment and upgrading of office space at 2 Kings Hill Avenue and 17 Kings Hill Avenue later this year.

Harry Trahair, Asset Manager at Praxis, said: “Working habits have changed since the Covid pandemic. Businesses now want flexible, quality offices with high energy efficiency, rather than large open-plan space which makes up a large proportion of our Kings Hill portfolio.

“With demand low for large open plan offices, we are proposing to redevelop some of the existing buildings, which are no longer viable as offices, into new homes. This redevelopment would help reduce the need to use greenfield sites for housing, and at the same time sustain the community and employment at Kings Hill.”

Praxis’ Kings Hill portfolio totals 491,860 sq ft, with currently 225,893 sq ft (46%) leased to 35 tenants and the balance of 265,967 sq ft (54%) vacant. Over the last five years, there has only been an average of 20,000 sq ft leased each year to new tenants or existing ones. As a result, there is more than 13 year’s supply of vacant office space at Kings Hill.

Harry Trahair added: “While the offices may still look good from the outside, they were built more than 20 years ago and would require major investment in their heating and electrical systems to bring them up to standard. With no tenants on the horizon, the costs of refurbishing these larger buildings makes them commercially unviable.”

Praxis is holding a public exhibition where people can meet the team behind the proposals and provide feedback between 2pm – 7.30pm on Friday, 12 June in the Lancaster Room, The Spitfire, Kings Hill. The public can also view the plans and give their views at www.Praxis-KingsHill.co.uk until Sunday 5th July 2026, when the consultation closes.