Funding boost for luxury student flats project

A £3.9m development to create 50 luxurious student flats is taking shape in Liverpool.

Liverpool Edge,  owned by Alan Beer and David Brewitt – who owns and designed the city’s Hope Street Hotel – is building a new four storey student accommodation property on Myrtle Street.

The project, called The Chatham Lodge, is being supported by Santander Corporate Banking, which is providing a £2.3m lending package of development and long term finance.

Set in the heart of the Liverpool’s Georgian Quarter, the development is next to the University of Liverpool campus and near  both John Moores University and the Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts.

Chatham Lodge will incorporate 50 luxury en-suite bedrooms aimed primarily at post-graduate, overseas and mature students. There will also be a 4,000 sq ft retail space on the ground floor.

Mr Brewitt said: “The Myrtle Street development will be finished to exceptional standards.

“It is a unique product in the student accommodation market offering the sort of design and specification you associate more with boutique hotels than student living, including solid wood floors, double beds, walk in showers and flat screen TVs.

“The building is a modern echo on the grace and elegance of its neighbouring Georgian Terrace and will offer our residents a personal and different atmosphere compared with the anonymity of many large halls of residence.”

Mr Brewitt, who studied in Liverpool himself, and now employs 100 people, said Chatham Lodge would be managed by another of his ventures, Urban Sleep.

Alan Beer, co-owner of Liverpool Edge, said: “We have been delighted with the level of support and flexibility we have received from Santander especially Phillip Roscoe and the Santander team in Liverpool.

“The lack of appetite amongst banks to support commercial developments has been well documented but Santander took the time to fully understand our business.”

Phillip Roscoe, relationship director at Santander’s Merseyside corporate business centre added: “Liverpool Edge has a strong business plan and management team.

“The city has a strong reputation for educational excellence and therefore there is likely to be great demand for such high quality accommodation. We aim to assist strong, viable businesses by providing a full relationship banking service, and our new relationship with Liverpool Edge is an excellent example of this.”