Orleans House sold to PRS developer

London-based Delph Property Group has paid £35m for two sites in Liverpool and Manchester to bring forward residential developments, including Orleans House, formerly owned by Bruntwood.

Bruntwood was granted planning permission earlier this year for the office-to-resi conversion of Orleans House, which is in Liverpool’s commercial district, into 71 flats.

The building on Edmund Street is grade two-listed, and was designed by Matear & Simon and built in 1907. The property was originally used as a warehouse for Liverpool’s Cotton Exchange, which is next door and is also owned by Bruntwood.

Delph purchased the site for £9.6m.

In Manchester, the company has bought a plot in the Green Quarter from Fortis Developments for £25m, with full planning consent for 146 apartments. The scheme will include 45 one-bedroom, 95 two-bedroom and three three-bedroom apartments together with ground floor commercial space suitable for a variety of uses, as well as 53 underground parking spaces and a communal garden.

Howard Crocker, managing director of Delph Property Group, said: “These acquisitions, which are located in two of the great cities at the heart of the northern powerhouse revolution, will make a great addition to our ever expanding portfolio. City centre apartments are increasingly attractive to young professionals and there is a growing demand for good quality, high specification rental properties of the type we will be providing at these exciting developments.”