Helical Bar is set to put its retirement village joint venture up for sale for around £70m, as it refocuses on its core investment and development business.

The listed company, headed by Mike Slade, has appointed Deloitte to undertake a sale of the business, which is a joint venture between the company and operator Urban Renaissance Villages, which is headed by Bill Gair.

The joint venture was established in 2002, when Helical wanted to diversify beyond office, retail and mixed-use development in London and the south east.

It is now seeking offers for the joint venture of up to £70m, and will look to recycle the capital raised into high-yielding office and retail assets with the potential for redevelopment.

The retirement village business comprises a development pipeline of 606 units, 150 of which are built or under construction.

The schemes are in Liphook, Hampshire; Lime Tree Village, Rugby; St Loyes, Exeter; Maudsley Park, Great Aulne; Milton, Cambridge; and Faygate, Horsham.

The most advanced is Lime Tree Village, where 153 units have been sold. The least advanced is at Maudsley Park, where Helical and Urban Renaissance Villages own a 314,000 sq ft industrial estate with the potential for a retirement village.