Developer repays loan after regeneration projects completion
A property developer has fully repaid a £2m loan from the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) after completing a regeneration project in Birmingham.
Upward (Property Estates) received the financial backing from GBSLEP’s Growing Places Fund in 2015 to support the construction of 57 houses and flats, a community hub and 12,000 sq ft of commercial space in Bromford. The scheme was completed last summer.
With 37 properties earmarked for supported living, the project has created 70 roles in the care sector.
Simon Marks, board director for optimising assets at GBSLEP, said: “Since launching six years ago, GBSLEP’s Growing Places Fund has been crucial in kick-starting projects across Greater Birmingham and Solihull, stimulating sustainable economic growth in the region.”
The scheme redevloped brownfield land that had previously been home to The Bromford public house and Palmerscroft Care Home.
Simon Griffiths, a director at Upward Developments, said: “The site had been long-vacant and with the support from the GBSLEP Growing Places Fund we were able to develop residential accommodation as well as small-scale commercial units, which would have not been viable without such investment.”
The Growing Places Fund is managed by Finance Birmingham and is available to businesses for development projects that are unable to proceed due to problems accessing traditional finance elsewhere.
