INVESTMENT / DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITY (STPP)

For Sale by Public Online Auction on 25/02/2026 13:00

Location
The site benefits from a high profile location on the corner of Crown Road with Stanley Road. Grays Shopping Centre, which has a planning application pending for redevelopment (LPA Ref: 23/01446/OUT), lies on the other side of Derby Road Bridge. Grays Railway Station is approximately 300m by foot, with regular c2c rail services between Southend-on-Sea and London Fenchurch Street (average times to London Fenchurch Street in c.35 minutes). Lying on the north bank of the River Thames,

Grays is approximately 20 miles to the east of central London and circa 2.6 miles to the east of the M25 motorway (J30). The A13 is a short distance to the north. Lakeside Shopping Centre and retail parks are situated nearby in West Thurrock.

Description
The site consists of the Darnley Road and Crown Road pay and display car parks (to be sold with vacant possession), with a total of around 125 spaces and is approximately 0.367 hectares (0.905 acres).

Vehicular access to the car parks is from Darnley Road, and the corner of Crown Road with Stanley Road. Separating the two car parks is an unadopted vehicular access, providing rear access to houses off Darnley Road.

To the west of the site is the Derby Road Bridge (which crosses over the railway line), with the Grays Shopping Centre beyond. To the north and east is predominantly residential, and to the south is the railway line on the other side of Crown Road.

Tenure
Freehold

Tenancy
The Crown and Darnley Road Car Park has been directly managed along with other car parks by the Council. Gross income (exclusive of VAT and before management or operating costs) received via pay and display for the Crown and Darnley Road Car Park has been: 2024/25 - £65,149 2023/24 - £56,147 2022/23 - £38,164 The Crown and Darnley Road Car Park is well located for car parking with respect to the train station (approx. 300m), South Essex College (on opposite side of Derby Road Bridge), and the town centre. Of note there are proposals for redevelopment of the adjacent Grays Shopping Centre on the opposite side of the Derby Road Bridge to provide 860 dwellings and 7,436sq m commercial space, along with 152 parking spaces (replacing the current 709 spaces within a multi-storey car park) with a planning application currently pending determination (LPA Ref: 23/01446/OUT).

Planning
There is resolution to grant full planning application for 53 flats (20 affordable), ranging in height up to 5 storeys (LPA Ref: 23/00442/FUL) the application remains pending subject to agreement of a S.106 Agreement. This layout allows development of the Crown Road Car Park with 51 flats set in landscaped grounds, with the Darnley Road Car Park utilised to provide for a detached block of 2 flats, along with 17 off road ancillary parking spaces to support the development.

Prospective purchasers should note that the sale boundary does not coincide with the boundary of the existing planning application, and that parts of the land shown within the application are not included in the sale. Any future planning proposals would therefore require amended application plans to reflect the land being offered for sale.

The site is shown on the Thurrock Core Strategy (2015) proposals map as being located within the Gray's Town Centre Development Boundary, but does not having a site specific designation. The Grays Town Centre Framework (October 2017) identifies the Crown and Darnley Road car parks as being a Development Opportunity site suitable for residential uses, and lying in the Town Centre Core and Station Quarter'.

Planning Authority
Thurrock Council -

No EPC required

The property is elected for VAT

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