Funding secured for two new city office buildings
The SCR Jessica Fund has provided two new loans, totalling £5.2m, to fund the development of office buildings in Sheffield.
This brings total commitments by the Fund to over £64m with a GDV of £150m. CBRE’s Investment Advisory team, part of CBRE Capital Advisors, manages the Fund which commits capital to regeneration opportunities in the Sheffield City Region.
The first loan was a £4m mezzanine loan which will fund the completion of Endeavour, a 60,138 sq ft Grade A office space in Sheffield’s established Digital Campus, which is being developed by Scarborough DC Limited.
It was provided alongside a £10m Senior Loan from The South Yorkshire Pension Fund, also managed by CBRE’s Investment Advisory team.
The second loan was a £1.2m rental loan to support No 1 West Bar Square, a 100,000 sq ft, Grade A office building in Sheffield City Centre which is pre-let in its entirety to Sheffield City Council.
The building will be the catalyst for the delivery of Phase One of the West Bar development, which will comprise of two office buildings totalling 200,000 sq ft, 360 residential build to rent units and a 450-space multi-storey car park. This project is being delivered by Urbo Regeneration.
Edward Highfield, chairman of the JESSICA Investment Board and director of city growth at Sheffield City Council, welcomed the investments as a sign of continued optimism in the Sheffield and South Yorkshire economy.
He added: “The fund is here to make sure developments happen and once again our investment has seen developments that could have been in doubt proceed.
“We are now looking a healthy pipeline of further investments across the region and I am looking to those coming to fruition over the forthcoming months.”
Will Church, senior director, CBRE Investment Advisory, added: “Despite the nationwide fall-out from the pandemic, developer confidence in SCR is high and having South Yorkshire funds such as SCR JESSICA and SYPA available to support the development community has made a real difference to keeping economic growth going.
“It is critically important that when the UK finds its new normal that SCR has the employment space it needs to take advantage of the green shoots; schemes like this provide the best example of what we can do together to position the region in the wider economy.
“Now more than ever employers will demand modern, welcoming office space such as Endeavour to make the most of the business benefits of employees collaborating in the workplace”.
