£100m funding deal for Jewellery Quarter scheme agreed
A £100m funding deal to bring forward a site in the Jewellery Quarter in Birmingham has been agreed.
Legal & General, on behalf of its Built to Rent (BTR) and Access Development Partnership (a joint venture between Legal & General Capital and PGGM), will fund the site at Hockley Mills.
The deal marks the 16th BTR site and second in Birmingham for the Legal & General BTR Fund, the Hockley Mills development takes its total investment in the sector to £2.1bn.
The scheme will deliver 395 apartments; one, two and three bedroom, alongside a new entrance to the Jewellery Quarter train station, 116 car parking spaces and 28,000 sq ft of flexible commercial space for retail, leisure and offices.
Dan Batterton, senior fund manager, BTR, LGIM Real Assets said: “In the space of the last few years, the BTR sector has really come into its own. It has cemented its position in the UK as an asset class and successfully evolved away from the private rented sector. Showing its resilience and relative counter cyclical nature of the residential sector, BTR has remained largely unaffected throughout the coronavirus pandemic, as occupancy, rent collection and demand has remained high.
“The Hockley Mills development further strengthens our existing portfolio, bringing our total number of schemes to 16 in eleven cities providing more than 5,300 apartments. The scheme will deliver high-quality, professionally-managed rental accommodation that can help to address the supply demand imbalance in Birmingham.”
Hannah Badger, associate in the Residential Capital Markets team at Knight Frank said: “During periods of economic stress, residential assets are seen as extremely attractive by investors, in part due to both their resilience and counter-cyclical rental performance. Our view remains that, long term, the current Covid-19 crisis may well act as a catalyst for an acceleration of institutional capital into the UK’s residential investment sector.”
Legal & General was advised by global property consultancy Knight Frank.
Sir Robert McAlpine will act as the developer at Hockley Mills.
