The private property developer was looking for £1.9m worth of funding in order to convert an old Thames warehouse into luxury, riverside apartments. Fortunately Mortgages for Business was able to help.
Development: mixed-use warehouse into apartments
Lender: Aldermore Bank
Loan: £1.9 million (£1.3 million for development costs and £600,000 of finance)
Completion: Expected February 2014
GDV: Expected to be around £6 million
The client was a private property developer with previous experience of refurbishments in the West End and other prime locations.
The building was a mixed-use warehouse that is situated near the Mayflower pub on the Thames, from where it is rumoured the Founding Fathers boarded the Mayflower to sail to America.
The client has owned the warehouse since 1995 with small mortgage totalling at £250,000. History behind the building was that it was let to a tenant who had stopped paying the rent. It took the client a total of five years to gain vacant position. Mortgages for Business stated that eventually, the tenant handed over his Norfolk holiday home in payment for the outstanding rent.
Because the property was a listed building, it took the client two years to get planning permission to convert the warehouse into luxury flats, due to all the necessary architects’, listed buildings’ and engineers’ reports that were required. Eventually, planning permission was granted for 6 x 2-bed flats and 1 x 3-bed penthouse.
Commenting on the deal, David Whittaker, Managing Director of broker, Mortgages for Business, said: “We took the deal to Aldermore Bank and negotiated a development loan of £1.9 million to cover the build costs of £1.3 million plus a further £600,000 of finance, but because it was a major project, the Bank required the client to contract professionals to carry out the work”.
It took six months to find the right contractor, but work finally started on the site in August 2014 and completion is expected by February 2015. The gross development value of the site is anticipated to be in excess of £6 million.
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