Glenbrook completes £30m forward funding for Queens Dock PRS

Glenbrook Property has secured institutional investment to transform a 300,000 sq ft vacant former HMRC office building on the Liverpool waterfront into a private residential scheme.

Glenbrook will act as the development partner for Moorfield Group, which has acquired the building at Queens Dock from Mapeley Steps on behalf of its Moorfield Real Estate Fund III.

The property is on an eight acre site and spans the internal dock area. The office has been empty since September 2012, when the last remaining HMRC staff were relocated to the Triad building in Bootle and other city centre offices.

Consent was granted to Glenbrook Property and asset manager Mapeley Steps in March 2013 for a full conversion from commercial office space to residential, with a mix of 240 studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments. A design statement for the scheme was provided by Liverpool-based Brock Carmichael Architects.

The apartments will be marketed to the private-rented sector and are scheduled for completion in September 2015.

Pochin's Construction is the contractor on the scheme and will start on site this week.

In 2013 Glenbrook entered into discussion with Liverpool City Council for the council to borrow the money required to buy the building from Mapeley in return for a 60% stake in the completed apartment block, but the talks ended.

Ian Sherry, managing director of Glenbrook Property, said: "Since identifying this opportunity, our team has worked hard to design a scheme that will deliver a superior specification in the most fantastic setting on Liverpool's renowned waterfront. Moorfield share our vision and confidence in the scheme and we look forward to working together."

Charles Ferguson Davie, chief investment officer at Moorfield, said: "Queens Dock offers an excellent opportunity to redevelop a unique building on the waterfront district of Liverpool.

"This is a landmark asset in Liverpool's thriving city centre and part of a larger strategic push into the PRS sector for funds managed by Moorfield. Works will begin immediately, underlining our commitment to this scheme and the city of Liverpool."

DWF represented MREF III and JLL acted on behalf of Glenbrook.

Moorfield Group is a UK real estate and related private equity fund manager, with £2bn currently under management through the Moorfield Real Estate Funds.