Newcastle’s Grainger plc has snapped up a Quayside housing tower in a £57m deal - the listed landlord’s first scheme in its home city.
The residential landlord has acquired The Forge, a build-to-rent asset with 283 rental apartments and a ground floor commercial unit, from Moorfield Real Estate Fund III.
The Forge was the first project to be completed on the far-reaching plans to regenerate the Forth Banks area, spanning over 200,000sqft in the Stephenson Quarter, across one seven-storey and two nine-storey properties.
Delivered by Moorfield Group in a £30m construction project and designed by Manchester interiors specialist Koncept ID, residents of the one, two and three-bedroom apartments have access to a long list of amenities and facilities, including a gym and residents’ lounge.
As well as the 283 residential apartments and commercial unit, the 2019 scheme has 3,500 sqft of high-quality resident amenity space, including an onsite gym, residents lounge and flexible co-working spaces.
It marks Grainger’s first purpose built, BTR investment in its home city of Newcastle, where the company was established in 1912 and remains headquartered.
More than two years ago CEO that Grainger was not developing any sites in the North East and last November Ms Gordon described Newcastle as a “priority area”, saying the firm was on the lookout for a development site.
In the Stock Exchange announcement the firm said Newcastle “meets with Grainger’s investment criteria as a target city in its national BTR and PRS growth strategy” and that the acquisition was in line with Grainger’s investment strategy.
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Moorfield was advised by Knight Frank and Shoosmiths. Grainger was advised by Womble Bond Dickinson.
Ms Gordon said “We are very pleased to have acquired a stabilised build-to-rent opportunity that meets Grainger’s high standards and is located in our home city of Newcastle. The Forge is proven as a great place to live, and, provides us with immediate rental income, further boosting our ambitious growth plans.
"We are keen to invest further in the city, which we see as having great growth fundamentals. We believe that good rental homes attract and retain talent, which will help the city and the region succeed.
“These investment opportunities could be either forward funding or direct development.”
Marc Gilbard, chief executive officer at Moorfield Group, said: “We are proud to have delivered a benchmark for quality BTR in Newcastle. The asset has performed well for our investors since its completion in 2019 and the timing of this disposal in line with our investment fund’s value-add strategy.
"We continue to believe in the structural drivers underpinning the 海角视频 residential for rent market, where we have been at the vanguard of its evolution and where we continue to explore new and compelling initiatives.”
Nick Pleydell-Bouverie, head of residential capital markets at Knight Frank, said: “As one of the first purpose-designed and stabilised Build to Rent assets to have traded in the 海角视频 market, The Forge represents a landmark transaction for the sector.
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"The weight of both domestic and overseas capital seeking to invest in high-quality product continues to accelerate. This demand is being driven by the sector’s recent strong operational performance, which was achieved despite Covid-19 and the multiple lockdowns that have taken place over the last 12 months.”
Womble Bond Dickinson real estate partner Tom Willows, said: “It has been a pleasure working with Grainger on its first major PRS scheme acquisition in Newcastle, representing an exciting addition to Grainger’s 海角视频 portfolio.”
Andrew Saunderson, director of investment at Grainger, added: “Newcastle was an obvious gap in our portfolio and therefore we are thrilled with our exciting acquisition of The Forge, which was only recently completed and is already tenanted. This shows the strength of build to rent in Newcastle and the wider North East region where we see recently completed schemes trading successfully.”