Mersey fund backs Iliad with maiden investment
Merseyside Pension Fund has made its first investment from the Catalyst Fund, a pot of money which opened for bids in 2016. Advised by CBRE Capital Advisors, the MPF is to finance Iliad’s development of 120 flats in Liverpool’s Ropewalks with an £11.2m loan.
The fund’s criteria is to invest in projects that will help to “deliver economic growth to the city region, upgrading the housing offer, regenerating deprived communities and maximising the use of new spaces in the city”.
The development vehicle Iliad (Grenville Street) Ltd is the borrower for the scheme, which will be branded The Eight Building and will be a mixture of rental apartments and apartments for sale.
The building, designed by Tim Groom Architects, will be next to the first phase of St Michael’s, a 260-unit student accommodation project delivered by Iliad in 2013.
Cllr Paul Doughty, chairman of Merseyside Pension Fund, said: “We are pleased to have made our first Catalyst Fund property investment. As the fund is the local government pension scheme for the Liverpool City Region it is rewarding that we are able to provide our members with a commercial return whilst stimulating economic growth. We look forward to the potential of making similar investments in the future.”
Chris Shorrock of CBRE Capital Advisors, MPF’s retained property investment advisor, added: “This investment represents what the fund was set up to support, economic growth in line with the LCR’s strategy. We are pleased to support a local developer with significant development experience in Merseyside.
“Part of our strategy for the fund over the past 18 months has been to invest in development finance in the regions as it is scarce and the traditional clearing banks remain averse to funding outside of core areas such as London or without significant pre-sales agreed. There are therefore good opportunities for alternative funders to step in, contributing to the regeneration and future-proofing of the local area.”
Iliad finance director Tim Molloy said: “Iliad have been successfully developing in the Ropewalks area for the last 20 years and are now delighted to be working with a local fund to bring forward our latest scheme which will create jobs and much needed family housing in the area.”
Pity it was not for a more mixed development, some commercial space and mixed use and not just flats. If our local pension funds are only investing in this type of project, what hope is there from outside ones?
By Man on bicycle
I cant see how this is being termed family housing , surely families need houses with secure garden space for kids to spend time and play safely , also there seems to be an abundance of apartments in the city centre , will these sell ?
By Peter
Peter, the city centre is no place for two up-two down housing. Any examples of such housing in the city centre are mere scares of the incompetent Labour party. Of course these apartments will sell, because as it happens people like to live in the city centre…
By Phil
I am originally from the centre of Liverpool, and cannot recall any two up two down housing. Can remember living in a one-bedroomed flat until Labour council moved us to a new 4 bed house with a garden. Shame about this scheme is that it is on the site of the last youth centre in Liverpool 1 – a shame.
By Mark Gilbertson
The city centre is not for family living, families need houses with a garden and a car. The city centre is no good for this, nor should it be.
By Rita
Mark there is various patches of two up-two down dwellings in the city centre, a result of the incompetence of Liverpool Labour over the decades. Short term gain, long term pain is the way it rolls with Labour.
By Phil
There has always been houses in the city centre,it is expanding at the moment and creeping up on the newer ones.
By Man on bicycle