Finance firm provides £570k to ensure completion of £1.3m scheme

PMJ Capital has completed on a £569,500 scheme for Cheshire-based investor/developer Courts Group.

The funding package will be used to convert a three-storey building in the city centre, to restaurant, retail and residential space.

Prominently located on the corner of Northgate and Hunter Street – a major urban regeneration area of the city – the completed scheme will have a gross development value of £1.3m and will provide a newly configured ground floor restaurant/retail unit, with four luxury apartments on the upper floors.

Lee Barton, development director at Bolton-based PMJ capital said: “We were approached by Courts after they had been let down by another lender.

“Our straightforward approach ensured that we could move forward incredibly quickly with this transaction, providing funding towards the purchase cost and 100% of the development costs over a 12-month term.”

Peter Disley, head of development at Courts, said: “The project is located in a fantastic location within the city walls, adjacent to the Storeyhouse Theatre and the new Northgate development.”

Construction here is currently under way on a multi-storey car park, indoor markets, multi-screen Picturehouse cinema, open performance/square area, and several shops/restaurants.

This is in addition to its locality near the tourist destinations of Chester Cathedral and the city walls.

Mr Disley added: “We were excited about the quality of this building and scheme and are delighted that PMJ were able to assist us.”

Lee said: “If you put hospitality, retail and COVID in the same sentence many other lenders would have run away, but we could see the real opportunity in this scheme and the passion that Peter and his team had for the project.”