£20m boost for 530-home Wolverhampton Canalside regeneration scheme
Wolverhampton’s Canalside South regeneration scheme is set for a boost with £20m in funding announced by Mayor Richard Parker.
Backed by the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), the loan will help Wavensmere Homes transform the 17.5-acre derelict site into a new community.
The £150m project will bring over 530 new homes to the area, including 109 affordable ones, reviving land that’s been vacant for 15 years.
The waterfront development sits on the eastern edge of the city centre and is made up of the Canal & River Trust-owned former Crane Foundry site, and the City of Wolverhampton Council’s former British Steel site and its land off Qualcast Road – all brought together to ensure a comprehensive development takes place.
James Dickens, managing director of Wavensmere Homes said: “The agreement of this loan facility with FDC will enable us to start on-site at Canalside South only nine months after we first unveiled the plans at UKREiiF. As a Birmingham-based developer, it’s great to be working with a leading local finance house that knows us so well.
“Our in-house team has a strong history of regenerating vacant land in the Black Country, and we can’t wait to begin transforming this site into a landmark development the whole region can be immensely proud of.”
Wavensmere Homes plans to build 378 two- and three-bedroom townhouses, aiming for an EPC-A energy rating, alongside 145 one- and two-bedroom apartments.
The development will also include a 10-unit co-living building, each containing six bedrooms, designed to offer affordable housing options for young professionals.
A total of 54 houses, as well as 80 apartments and co-living units, will have waterside views and the currently disused railway arches on-site will be repurposed into 1,338 sqm (14,400 sq ft) of commercial space for future tenants.
Kieren Turner-Owen, associate director of property finance for Frontier Development Capital said: “Our focus is proudly on investing in the West Midlands, so we are thrilled to be selected as the debt funding partner for one of the region’s most high-profile regeneration schemes. With well over 500 mixed-tenure homes and complementary amenities, Wolverhampton Canalside South is an integral development for the revitalisation of this West Midlands city.
“Since agreeing our first deal with Wavensmere Homes five years ago, the company has accrued a reputation as one of the UK’s most prominent and impressive SME housebuilders. This new loan facility sits sweetly within our funding parameters and we could not be more excited to be involved with bringing about the transformation of such a key waterside development. Our focuses are
aligned in regenerating complex brownfield sites, with Canalside South allowing our excellent relationship with the Wavensmere team to continue.”
