Deal to fund £32m scheme for keyworker apartments

The Oldham Road scheme

Impact real estate investor Cheyne Capital and North West housing developer Mulbury have announced a £32m forward funding deal to build 144 apartments in Manchester’s New Cross neighbourhood.

The investment comes from Cheyne’s second Impact Real Estate Fund and includes a social covenant to ensure that more than a third (35%) of the homes will be allocated to local keyworkers, such as nurses, teachers and emergency services workers, at discounted rents.

The 12-storey development, to be built on Oldham Road, will include one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and will also comprise work, entertainment and relaxation spaces, ground floor retail facilities, and a 3,000 sq ft roof terrace providing outside space for residents.

Stuart Fiertz, Cheyne Capital’s co-founder and head of responsible investment, said: “As cities expand, it is too often the case that keyworkers get priced out of the central housing market and forced to either downsize or move to less accessible areas.

“We are, therefore, committed to delivering high quality homes in desirable locations – and to ensuring that they remain affordable now and into the future.

“Mulbury has an excellent track record of delivering high quality housing in Manchester and we look forward to working together to help address the UK’s severe shortage of inclusive, affordable housing.”

Martin Bury, co-founder and director at Mulbury, said: “Cheyne’s social impact values are aligned with our own vision for providing choice and affordability in the Manchester housing market.

“We’re delighted to have secured the forward funding to make this development a reality. The standard of the design and the quality of the accommodation on offer will provide an iconic new building and support the ongoing renewal of residential accommodation within New Cross.”

The 0.13-hectare development site sits within the New Cross Neighbourhood Development Framework, a key gateway into Manchester city centre from the North. It is bounded by Oldham Road, Addington Street, Marshall Street and Chadderton Street, and is currently occupied by outdated industrial buildings and a small surface level car park.

Mulbury hopes to start demolition and remediation work on the site in February. It is expected that the building will be completed by Summer 2023.

Mulbury has also gained planning consent for two further residential-led developments in New Cross – one in Goulden Street and the other in Bendix Street.

The Oldham Road development marks the latest investment from Cheyne’s second impact fund. The previous investment was in housing for adults with a learning disability.

Diversification by tenant type, counterparty and location is a key element of Cheyne’s strategy. Investments in the first impact fund were a mix of acquired and developed assets for use as affordable, keyworker and temporary housing and accommodation for social care by local authorities, housing associations and charities.

The building has been designed by Manchester-based Tim Groom Architects and Mulbury has also appointed locally-based Youth Studio as interior designer for the project.

Deloitte Real Estate acted as planning consultant and CBRE advised Mulbury on the transaction. Beyond Corporate provided legal advice to Mulbury on the funding with Cheyne Capital, while Primas Law acted as legal advisor on the site acquisition and assembly.

GMI Construction has been appointed as main contractor. Other members of the project team include Scott Hughes Design as structural and civil engineer, RLB as cost consultant, Futureserv as M&E consultant, Gray Scanlan Hill as right to light advisor, Layer as landscape consultant, dBx Acoustics as acoustics advisor, SK Transport as transport consultant, BB7 as fire engineer, and Rawlings as principal designer.

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