Mount secures £12m loan for Liverpool student scheme
Mount Property Group has secured a £12m loan to fund the construction of its £45m Natex student housing scheme in Liverpool’s New Islington.
The loan from Asian-backed lender Prime Secured is intended to finance completion of the 574-bed scheme, scheduled for September 2020 in time for the start of the academic year. The developer has no plans to seek further bank financing for the project, a spokesperson for Mount told Place North West.
Mount acquired the site of the former National Express bus station on Norton Street from Anwyl in June 2018. It plans to build two blocks of 16 and 10 storeys respectively, for student accommodation split between 472 cluster units and 94 studios. A total of 80% of units have been sold to date and the steel frameworks of the structure are in place, the spokesperson said.
Michael Chrysokhou, managing director of Mount, said: “This is a key milestone for the business and for the student accommodation market in Liverpool.”
The steel framework for the 574-bed student housing scheme is in place.
Designed by architect Falconer Chester Hall, Natex includes a games area and gym, as well as a private courtyard positioned between the two blocks.
Mount Construction is the main contractor and management contractor Barton Group Services is building the project, which is one of six schemes currently under construction by the group.
The developer confirmed its purchase of the site from Anwyl last year, after first being tipped to buy the site by Place North West in January 2018.
It was Mount’s second major student scheme acquisition of 2018, following the purchase of a 124-bed project on Liverpool’s Devon Street for an undisclosed sum last May. The group has created separate divisions within its business to retain control of the build process, rather than outsourcing each delivery component to contractors.
Before the sale to Mount last year, Natex was to be Anwyl’s first student housing project in Liverpool. The North Wales-based contractor and housebuilder gained planning permission for the site in November 2016.
