Elliot will use the funding to finish the final phase of the mixed-use Liverpool scheme known as The Address at One Wolstenholme Square which includes 200 apartments. Tony McDonough reports
Developer Elliot Group has secured £16.8m in debt funding from NatWest to complete its £100m transformation of Liverpool’s Wolstenholme Square.
Elliot will use the funding to finish the final phase of the mixed-use scheme known as The Address at One Wolstenholme Square. This will provide 151,620 sq ft of new space and will include 32 studios, 102 one-bed apartments and 66 two-bed homes. There will be two commercial units on the ground floor.
The loan marks a change of direction for the prolific developer which, to date, has funded its schemes through individual investor contributions on the retail market. Elliot Group director, Elliot Lawless, said: “We’re adopting a more blended approach to our funding, going forward.
“NatWest has been great to work with throughout the process and the move spreads our risk and exposure to different funding sources. We’ll remain active in the retail market via our agents Experience Invest because so many investors have asked to continue lending to us.
“We’ve delivered high yields, great occupancy and excellent build quality and retail investors want to continue backing us based on that track record.”
The loan marks NatWest’s return to the Liverpool residential lending market. The bank’s regional director, Hugh MacDonald, added: “This is a great development for the local area and one we are only more than happy to be involved in. Elliot Group are a forward-thinking and exciting developer and the work being done on the Wolstenholme Square project is tremendously exciting.”
The block is on the former headquarters of social care charity PSS, which Elliot Group acquired in June 2017, and will rise to 11 storeys. The scheme was designed by the Liverpool studio of Falconer Chester Hall. Newry Construction are contractors for the project, which is set to complete in June 2020.
When completed, Wolstenholme Square will comprise more than 700 new homes, 12,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space and a new hotel.