Property Alliance joint venture targets stalled sites

PROPERTY Alliance Group (PAG) and London-based asset management partnership Cooke & Powell have formed a joint venture called Alliance Property Asset Management to look after stalled sites.

David Russell, chief executive of Trafford Park-based PAG said the division would look to manage commercial and residential property assets at various stages of development for banks, funds, special debt servicers and insolvency practitioners or Law of Property Act receivers.

He added that it has already been appointed to optimise value from assets, businesses and debt instruments with a value of more than £250m.

“APAM has already built strong relationships with a number of leading banks, property funds and special servicers,” he said. “The range of expertise and experience the two shareholders bring to the table enables APAM to generate value from all types of challenging situations – from tenanted property, developments and raw land to property released through corporate and debt restructurings,

He added that his partners in the venture, Simon Cooke and William Powell, shared a combined 45 years worth of experience of managing third party capital.

“They have an unblemished trackrecord through three property cycles,” he said.

Cooke said the joint venture “will benefit from the combined capabilities of the two companies- in development and construction and asset and property management – all of which are conducted in-house”.

The firm will have offices in London, Manchester and Belfast.

Cooke and Powell will serve as directors of the joint venture firm alongside Russell and fellow PAG director Robin Priest.

Russell will also continue his role as CEO of PAG and will also carry on working for the £150m North West property fund set up with Moorfield Group in January last year.