Fiera Real Estate UK and Wrenbridge have agreed a £19m development facility with Alpha Property Lending to part fund the speculative construction of the 189,536 sq ft ‘Spark’ Grade A industrial scheme in Bishops Stortford.
Fiera and Wrenbridge secured planning for 12 units, across five buildings at the 8.5-acre site in Q4 2022. The units range in size from 2,422 sq ft to 60,473 sq ft and the scheme is targeting net zero carbon construction, BREEAM Excellent and EPC A.
The site was purchased on behalf of Fiera Real Estate Opportunity Fund V UK, which completed its final close in February 2022 with £180m of equity committed.
James Feltham, director of Wrenbridge, said: “We are delighted to have secured financing with Alpha Property Lending for this high quality scheme which will help meet the sustained demand for local, regional and national businesses in the Bishops Stortford and wider M11 market. Construction of the scheme will complete in December 2023 and we have really strong engagement from the occupier market.”
Chris Button, fund manager at Fiera, added: “We are really pleased to have secured financing for the scheme which will help to fill the dearth of supply of Grade A logistics in the M11 corridor. We have significant funding for more speculative industrial and logistics developments in major urban locations.”
Mert Zabci, lending director at Alpha Property Lending, said: “It has been great to be able to support Fiera and Wrenbridge with this scheme targeting the highest ESG credentials and in an area with a dearth of Grade A industrial units available. We look forward to supporting the team with further projects in 2023.”
Brotherton and Forsters acted for Fiera and Wrenbridge on the financing facility. Coke Gearing and CBRE are joint leasing agents on the scheme. Readie Construction has been appointed to fulfil the main body of works at the development.
