Silbury Finance, the development lender backed by Oaktree Capital Management, has provided Kingsbridge Capital, a specialist residential developer, with a £24.7m senior loan to support the conversion of an existing office block in Bracknell, Berkshire, into 150 sustainable residential apartments.
The 20-month facility, which has an 88% loan-to-cost ratio, will help finance the site acquisition and conversion of the property known as 100 The Ring. The redevelopment will offer a mix of studios and one-bedroom apartments for sale, ranging from 415 sq ft to 757 sq ft, over seven floors.
The project will retain the existing frame and façade while the interior of the building will be stripped out and subdivided. Residents will have access to 133 bicycle and 150 parking spaces in the basement, in addition to several electric vehicle charging points. The first homes will be finished in H2 2024.
The development is strategically located on the edge of the town centre, a short walk to Bracknell train station that connects to London Waterloo in an hour. The project will also benefit from the proximity of The Lexicon, a new £240m, one million sq ft social and cultural hub delivered as Phase 2 of the Bracknell Town Centre regeneration project.
Since launching in January 2021, Silbury has originated 16 loans worth £579m of new finance across the retirement living and build-to-sell sectors. The loans were extended to 12 different borrowers, with a Gross Asset Value of over £887 million.
Jamie Rahder (pictured), investment director at Silbury Finance, said: “This scheme should serve as a blueprint in using Permitted Development to transform obsolete office stock into much-needed, well-connected high-quality homes, a far more sustainable method versus ground-up development.”
Niten Handa, managing director of Kingsbridge Capital, added: “Against the volatile economic backdrop, Silbury’s funding expertise in the Living sector, evident since the start of the relationship, has been especially invaluable.”
