COMMERCIAL property investor Praxis has purchased the Aldermaston Park Estate for £4.7million.

The prime 140-acre estate in Aldermaston, which includes a Victorian Grade II listed manor house and a 85,000 sq ft head office building, along with various other commercial and residential buildings, is set within historic parkland incorporating a 10-acre ornamental lake.

Jack Burgess, investment manager at Isle of Man-based Praxis, said the company intends to substantially reconfigure, refurbish and reposition the estate over the next two years, and is exploring a range of strategies.

The Manor House formerly traded as a 33-bedroom hotel, and Praxis says it will either seek an operator or consider a residential conver-sion.

Mr Burgess said the site is widely seen as one of the most unique real estate opportunities to trade in the Thames Valley area in recent years, partly because it comes with planning consent to build a further 125,000 sq ft of offices.

He said: “Being under £5m, the deal looked like exceptional value. We bought it very quickly – even by our standards.”

The Aldermaston estate was formerly owned by a company called Holaw (420) Limited which has gone into liquidation.