Developer lands multimillion-pound funding deal for city scheme

Study property developer Urbanite has secured a £14.8m finance facility to support its latest purpose build student accommodation scheme in Leeds.

The company has acquired the Sugarwell Court from Leeds Beckett University and will convert the site into student accommodation.

The 20-month finance facility from Paragon Development Finance will enable Urbanite to acquire the site and deliver a 457-bed scheme.

The funding was led on behalf of the bank by relationship director Simon Dekker, with support from senior portfolio manager Craig Seaborne.

The latest funding with Urbanite is Paragon’s second deal with the company. Previously, Paragon funded a 127-bed PBSA scheme in Sheffield for £6.3m, which is due for practical completion to meet the start of the academic year in 2022.

Timothy Smith, director at Urbanite, said: “Urbanite is thrilled to secure a secondary deal with Paragon, bringing forward this exciting scheme for upgraded state-of-the-art purpose build student accommodation in Leeds. We’re pleased to have acquired this site and to be able to convert it into bespoke student accommodation in a prime location in the centre of Leeds.

‘We’ve built a great relationship with Simon and the team at Paragon; their support and understanding are gratefully received with the past two successful funding facilities.”

Simon Dekker, relationship director, said: “We were able to complete this finance facility is a short period of time to enable the customer to complete the acquisition of the site and commence development work. This is the second deal we have funded with Urbanite, which is building a great reputation in the PBSA market.”