ASK & OakNorth Bank

ASK and OakNorth Bank complete £22m loan for Solihull office-to-resi conversion



ASK Partners and OakNorth Bank have provided a £22m combined development and investment facility secured against an 84,000 sq ft office building on a 3.4-acre site in Solihull, West Midlands.


The borrower is a joint venture between property investment and development company Investin plc and construction company Bespoke Construction Ltd.

The loan will be used to fund phases two and three of a £41m GDV office-to-residential conversion called Broadoaks and to provide a “bridge-to-sell” facility on the remaining flats from phase one, which was also funded by ASK Partners and OakNorth Bank.

The initial phase included the conversion of the first office building into 83 flats under permitted development, which reached practical completion in December 2020.

Sales have been agreed on 51 of the units.

Phase two will focus on the construction of nine new townhouses on the site of the former carpark, while phase three will comprise the conversion of another office building into 83 flats, with a further eight penthouses proposed, subject to planning.

The £22m facility was agreed at 54% LTGDV on a 12-month term.

Hemesh Patel, property finance director at OakNorth Bank, said: “Given the success of phase one, we are confident that Investin and Bespoke will deliver equally impressive further phases to this well designed scheme. 

“We take pride in our ability to successfully fund and support these types of conversions and it has been a pleasure to work with all parties again.” 

Daniel Austin, CEO at ASK Partners, added: “This is an exceptionally well located and impressive scheme that we were very pleased to help fund. 

“As developer and prime contractor, Investin and Bespoke have done an excellent job on phase one and I’m looking forward to seeing further transformation of the site as the scheme progresses.  

“I believe there will be significant interest in the development as the migration trend for second cities continues post-Covid. 

“Many major corporates are taking prime office space in Birmingham, following the talent pool to this university city that will soon also benefit from the high-speed connections of HS2.”



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