Kinrise launches £100m ‘iconic’ buildings fund 

The developer, which specialises in transforming heritage buildings into modern workspace, is on the hunt for new projects. 

Kinrise has launched its second fund – Kinrise UK Cities Fund II – and has put a call out for collaborators as the developer embarks on the next stage of its strategy to bring heritage buildings back into use. 

The fund, understood to be worth around £100m, is backed by family offices and will see Kinrise acquire up to 10 assets across regional UK cities. 

To date, Kinrise has invested £100m across 12 projects in five cities. 

The developer recently parted ways with investor Karrev on two high-profile North West schemes. 

Kinrise and Karrev mutually agreed to part company on Martins Bank in Liverpool and Sunlight House in Manchester after the former took both schemes through planning. 

In a promotional video announcing the new fund, founders Sam Lawson Johnston and George Aberdeen said that, despite the uncertainty around offices and future ways of working, now is the time to invest. 

“Rule number one for making good money in real estate is to buy it well in the first place. Now is that moment,” Lawson Johnston said. 

“We are excited to build the first nationally recognised portfolio of iconic and historic buildings – fully upgraded and full of life.” 

Kinrise’s retrofit approach is likely to be popular with environmentally-conscious landlords and occupiers as companies ramp up their efforts to reduce their carbon footprints. 

“There is a huge focus at the moment on new builds and the way that they perform,” Aberdeen said. 

“What we do at Kinrise is focus on recycling existing buildings, saving the embodied carbon, and creating space for tenants who have ambitious net zero carbon goals.”