OakNorth’s £16m finance deal with Mason family
OakNorth Bank has completed a debt finance deal worth £16m to the Mason family, well-known real estate investors, developers and advisers in Liverpool and the North West.
The loan will be used to convert seven of the 11 floors in the Corn Exchange Building into a 202-bedroom aparthotel.
The building has been owned by the Mason family for the past 17 years and is where Mason Partners is currently headquartered.
The property is based in the centre of Liverpool’s commercial region close to James Street Station, Liverpool One, Albert Dock, and the new BT Convention centre.
The development has already been pre-let on a 35-year lease to Staycity, the ambitious aparthotel operator which currently owns 1,400 units but hopes to increase this figure to 10,000 by 2021.
The group was founded in 2004 and now operates across several key UK & European cities including London, Manchester, Paris, Birmingham, Dublin, Edinburgh, Liverpool, and York, with additional premises due to open next year in Marseille and Lyon.
In addition to the standard Staycity facilities – 24-hour reception, fully-equipped kitchen, bathroom, complimentary Wi-Fi access, flat screen TV with Freeview, DVD player, and weekly housekeeping – the Corn Exchange will also have a guest laundry, fitness room, car parking, luggage lockers, and an open-plan seating area where guests can work or eat.
Andrew Mason, director at Mason Partners, said: “We’re delighted to have pre-let the property to Staycity – once completed, this will be the largest aparthotel development in Liverpool.
“Last year, the sector experienced a new average high in the city with occupancy levels averaging 78% over the course of the year, reaching a peak of 90% in Q3.
“The team at OakNorth worked tirelessly to complete the deal in just a few weeks, and the speed at which they responded to questions and queries was pretty remarkable.
They have a great understanding of the sector and in the 14 months since they launched, have done a number of high-profile property deals across the UK.”
Rishi Khosla, co-founder and chief executive of OakNorth Bank, said: “With more than 40 years’ experience of investing in and developing real estate in and around Liverpool, the Mason family has a firm grasp of how the city is set to evolve over the next few years, so it’s no surprise that they’ve been able to pre-let the property before development’s even gotten underway.
“With a portfolio of c.£100m and ambitious plans to continue growing, we look forward to working with this established family business in the future.”
