It will be its first new regional office in 14 years.
The move is part of a planned investment of £300m in retirement housing in the region over next four years. It plans to build 1,800 new homes across approximately 70 new sites in north London, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex.
Nationwide, McCarthy & Stone plans to spend £1.5bn in new housing for older people by 2018 across 250 sites in the UK to deliver a total of 10,000 new homes.
The new regional office will be based in Colney Heath and headed by newly-promoted regional managing director Ali Maruf. He has been with McCarthy & Stone since 1997 and was previously land director for the area.
McCarthy & Stone is also widely reported to be in talks with City advisers about either a return to the stock market or a debt refinancing. The company used to be stock exchange listed until being taken private in 2006. McCarthy & Stone cut its net debt to £93m after a £527m refinancing last year. At that time, new leadership was installed, with former Persimmon CEO John White as chairman and former Mount Anvil boss Clive Fenton as chief executive.
On the new expansion drive, Mr Fenton said: “The demand for high-quality retirement housing in North London and the northern Home Counties is growing substantially and we want to respond better to the needs of the local market. Opening our first regional office in 14 years in North London is vitally important to us as we look to meet our growth plans and double the size of the business."
McCarthy & Stone sold 1,527 units across the UK in 2013 and is looking to sell more than 3,000 units a year by 2018. In addition to the new North London region, the company expects to open further regional offices in 2015 and 2016, complementing its existing five regions in the southeast, southwest, the midlands, the north and Scotland.
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