London Residential Project Lands $446M Loan
Regent's Crescent is the first Grade I-listed property in the U.K. to receive approval for reconstruction. The HFF team worked on behalf of the borrower, which included Venture Capital Bank and Rassmal Investments.
Regent’s Crescent
HFF has arranged $446 million (£350 million) in financing for Regent’s Crescent, a multifamily project in London. This marks the first instance in which a Grade I-listed property in the U.K. receives approval for reconstruction. The financing includes $318.7 million (£250 million) in senior debt provided by a syndicate of five lenders, as well as an additional $127.5 million (£100 million) of mezzanine capital.
Designed by John Nash in the early 19th century, Regent’s Crescent is known as a historic site in the neighborhood of Regent’s Park. According to akt II, the engineering team behind the reconstruction, the building was damaged during World War II. It was previously reconstructed in the 1960s, with a pair of residential blocks added in the back of the building. The crescent façade has been demolished and will be rebuilt with brickwork and stucco to represent the original building design. The firm states that the plant rooms, gardens and residential blocks that have an entrance beneath the crescent have been preserved. In place of the former crescent will be a series of four-story residential buildings, which will total 76 units upon completion.
The HFF team of Managing Director Claudio Sgobba and Director Andrew Hornblower, represented the borrower, which consisted of a group of institutional and high-net-worth investors based in Europe and the Middle East. Key principles include Venture Capital Bank and Rassmal Investments. The financing was structured as Sharia Compliant through several Commodity Murabaha agreements.
Earlier this month, HFF arranged an $800.5 million loan to finance a 23-property multifamily portfolio on behalf of Starlight Investments. The properties total 7,289 units across eight states.
Image courtesy of HFF
