The owner of two adjoining office buildings in the centre of Cardiff has secured £6.7m in new funding after a major refurbishment and rebranding of its property asset.
Create Real Estate acquired Marchmount House and Dumfries House on Dumfries Place in 2021 from Sydney & London Properties.
Since then the interiors and exteriors of the two buildings, which have been rebranded Coal House and Coal House East, have been transformed. The buildings provide 42,000 sq ft of office space. The space is being marketed by property advisory firms Knight Frank and Savills.
Create Real Estate has secured lending from Broadwood Capital a specialist alternative lender to real estate investors and developers in the Ƶ. The deal refinances a previous funding package. Provided over a three-year term, the new facility will support a business plan for leasing the property over the next 12-18 months.
Ricky Humphreys, director of Create Real Estate, said: “In common with the wider Ƶ regional office market, Cardiff is experiencing a ‘flight to quality’ which is seeing occupiers abandon older, more-tired buildings in favour of modern and sustainable workspace that will serve to naturally draw their teams into the office, boosting productivity and innovation. We have responded to a distinct lack of small to medium size office spaces meeting these standards in Cardiff and delivered a market-leading, carbon net zero in operation, and design-led refurbishment.
“It’s been a pleasure working with Broadwood to refinance the original development facility. Broadwood’s in- depth approach to analysis has enabled them to remain confident in their underwrite and in our business plan, even as macro-economic headwinds, and lending market conditions have worsened, enabling us to transition smoothly now to getting the building fully occupied and income producing”.
Dan Smith, Broadwood’s founder and chief executive, said “Coal House is a great example of an exceptional product right in the sweet spot of tenant requirement in this important regional office market. We are delighted to be able to assist Create on their refinance and support their business plan to embrace the ESG (environmental, social and governance) agenda and maximise the potential of the property. Ultimately, high quality assets with strong fundamentals show resilience and outperform during times of uncertainty”.
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