Member Article

Lockdown deal completes £50m worth of Manchester transactions for developer

Rise Homes, a national build-to-rent developer and operator, and part of the British Strategic Investment Fund which is managed by Gresham House PLC, has successfully acquired the second phase of the £25m The Depot project. Part of what was formerly the Stagecoach bus depot on Princess Parkway, Manchester, it is now a five-acre brownfield regeneration scheme.

Acting for Rise Homes was Manchester-based Beyond Corporate, which is part of Beyond Group, the growing legal business which also owns and operates specialist, award winning Family law firm McAlister Family Law. The deal involved advice from Beyond Corporate’s Real Estate and Construction teams, who also acted for Rise Homes on the successful first phase of The Depot.

Alongside the work undertaken by Beyond Corporate for Rise Homes on the Mailbox project in Stockport, the deal means that Beyond has handled build-to-rent transactions worth £50m for Rise Homes in the past two years.

The Stagecoach site stood vacant for many years, and its redevelopment will provide much needed housing options for every stage of life within the community. Rise Homes will provide a further 45 apartments as part of the second phase of the scheme, following its successful acquisition and development of the first phase on the project, which provided 90 build to rent apartments. Rowlinson Constructions Ltd is again engaged by Rise Homes to deliver the project, and work in already underway on site.

The development is part of Rise Homes’ wider development pipeline of build-to-rent assets, including those in Manchester, Sheffield, Stockport and Coventry. All the homes have been designed to respect the quality of the Victorian homes in the surrounding area with modern, open plan interiors. A significant proportion of the spacious, fully furnished apartments, which include bespoke, high speed broadband, will be available as rental properties for key workers.

Nigel Rawlings, CEO of Rise Homes, said: “The two phases, which comprise the now completed 92 apartments and the 45 apartments on which work has just begun, represent £25m of build-to-rent properties, but exclude the completed extra care scheme, the houses for sale (open market and shared ownership) many of which are now complete, and the ‘HAPPI’ block also just commencing. The whole development delivers mixed tenure and mixed house types for both young people and those later living.

“We have always found Beyond Corporate to be very efficient, competitive and professional for corporate, construction and property work and are delighted to work once again with the firm.”

Owen McKenna, Real Estate partner with Beyond Corporate, said: “These are undoubtedly challenging times for the Real Estate sector, with many development projects delayed, or shelved entirely, so we are delighted to complete this transaction and see Rise Homes’ commitment to the area.

“This is an important brownfield regeneration project for both the city of Manchester and its people.”

James Flynn, head of Beyond’s Real Estate division, added: “This is a great example of a client taking a long-term view and shows that development projects can still be successfully progressed in the current environment.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Gill Alexander .