State funding of £11m will enable work to start on a new 210,000 sq ft business park on the edge of Liverpool city region. Tony McDonough reports
A new business park is to be created at Ellesmere Port after the final piece of funding for the project was secured.
Acting for the owner of the site, Legat Owen has secured a £9m loan from the Cheshire & Warrington Development Fund and Northwest Evergreen 1 Fund and a grant of £2.7m from the Cheshire Science Corridor Enterprise Zone.
With funds from the owner already in place it means work on Vortex Business Park, a multi-let industrial estate off Newbridge Road, can now begin. It will comprise five units with sizes ranging from 15,000 to 107,000 sq ft.
Vortex Business Park Ltd, based in Chester, is the registered owner of the development. It is headed by directors Catherine Pickering and John Pickering.
The Vortex scheme sits within the Cheshire Science Corridor Enterprise Zone, a strategic priority for the Cheshire & Warrington LEP. It will create potential space for more than 400 jobs. It also looks to benefit from the launch of the LCR Freeport zone.
The Cheshire & Warrington Development Fund and Northwest Evergreen 1 Fund were both advised by CBRE’s Lending team within its Capital Advisors business.
Herbin Duffield, director of lending at CBRE Capital Advisors, said: “This is a major step forward for the development, and a significant boost to the economic prospects of the area, demonstrating the benefit impact funding can have.
“We were pleased to work in tandem with the Cheshire & Warrington LEP and the owner of the development to provide a loan that works efficiently for our borrower alongside grant funding.
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“This is a great deal for all, the finance will be for a three-year term, providing sufficient time for a 12-month construction programme, with some headroom, then an orderly letting and sales or refinance process.”
The scheme secured funding from the Cheshire & Warrington Development Fund due to the project being eligible under the ERDF 2014-2020 programme.
Ben Lamont of Legat Owen, added: “All the pieces are now in place to drive this ambitious scheme forward.
“The owners are grateful for, and delighted to have, the support of the LEP and CBRE which has provided essential funding to enable this scheme to commence, and we look forward to opening the business park in 12 months’ time.”