Amicus backs Preston office-to-resi schemes

Short-term lending specialist Amicus Property Finance has completed a deal with developer Ladson Group to purchase two previously council-owned commercial buildings in Preston city centre.

Winckley House in Cross Street is a vacant 43,000 sq ft office building located in the centre of Preston with consent for conversion into residential. Ladson has pre-sold 34 of the 76 apartments to be created at the site.

Ladson has pre-sold all 46 apartments at Guild House, a five-storey 28,000 sq ft office building in the Winckley Square area that has been empty for five years.

Yasin Patel, divisional director at Amicus Property Finance, said: “We are delighted to have provided funding for these two sites which would have no doubt become more and more run-down without the vision of Guy Ladson at Ladson Group. We were really impressed with Guy and to complete within two weeks helped the site to secure more than 60% of pre-sales.

“We continue to look to fund works required to turnaround historical properties which bring buildings back to life and make the surrounding areas much more appealing. Indeed through our new Manchester office we have a strong on-the-ground base to fund local projects and service clients who are often overlooked by more mainstream lenders.”

Ladson added: “Amicus was able to adapt to our needs, understanding our business model to the core and tailor the financing we required to fit around us. With this funding in place, we are excited about the future for these two buildings and hope we can maintain a sustained and successful relationship with Amicus.”

Amicus lent £72m in July, a record for the firm, which cited the opening of its Manchester base in 2016 as a factor.