Quintain Completes £310M Refi At Wembley: The London Deal Sheet
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Quintain has completed the refinancing of two build-to-rent schemes at Wembley Park with a £310M Natixis CIB green loan. The loan covers Canada Gardens and Madison, two developments totalling 1,124 homes.
Because of the high level of energy efficiency, the sites rank within the top 15% of residential assets in the UK. As a result, the facility qualified for Natixis CIB green loan status, Quintain said.
The transaction marks the full refinance of its previous corporate facility as Quintain deleverages estatewide. This is the second facility Quintain has with Natixis CIB, following a £128M refinancing in December 2024 for The Robinson, also at Wembley Park.
Canada Gardens is Quintain’s seventh BTR development and comprises 743 homes arranged around an acre of private gardens, while Madison is its eighth BTR development and comprises 381 homes across two blocks with provision for a health and fitness centre on the ground floor.
FINANCE
Aviva Investors has completed the provision of a £235M facility with Lazari Investments, secured against a portfolio of prime London offices.
The five-year facility will be used by Lazari Investments to refinance existing agreements and for further capital expenditure across its portfolio. It builds on a more than 35-year relationship between Aviva Investors and Lazari Investments.
“This agreement reflects a significant uptick in occupational and investor interest in the prime London office market and is a sector we expect to be a key focus of our strategy going through 2026 and beyond,” Aviva Investors Head of Real Estate Debt Gregor Bamert said in a statement.
DEALS
BGO Strategic Capital Partners has partnered with LRC Group to invest in a 2,100-unit UK multifamily portfolio, comprising existing assets and add-on acquisitions, primarily across London. The investment includes 19 newly built and recently refurbished residential buildings.
The investment underscores BGO Strategic Capital Partners’ focus on partnering with experienced local operators to access scaled living sector portfolios in the UK, the company said.
“This investment reflects our conviction in the resilience of the UK living sector and the opportunity to acquire scale in a structurally undersupplied market,” BGO Strategic Capital Partners Managing Partner and co-Head Cherine Aboulzelof said in a statement.
PLANNING
LaSalle Investment Management, Lipton Rogers Developments and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill have submitted substantial revisions to the proposals for 1 Silk Street to the City of London Corporation.
The western part of the building has been reduced in height by more than 30 feet, resulting in a building three storeys higher than the existing structure. There have also been significant reductions in daylight impacts to neighbouring homes following changes to height, massing and facade design.
The proposal also includes a new entrance plaza for the Barbican Centre and a dedicated cultural space, Silk Street Hall, for live performance and a dedicated community space, plus pedestrian arcade Ropemaker Street that will provide a new route from Liverpool Street and Moorgate to the Barbican Centre.
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Planning permission has been granted for a reworked retrofit scheme at 10 New Bridge Street in the City of London. The new permission replaces an earlier 2023 consent for the redevelopment and extension of Fleet House.
Lichfields advised developer Atenor through a reappraisal of options, securing a revised scheme that maintains the office-led development, improves the public offer and remains viable on a highly constrained, heritage-sensitive site, the adviser said.
The updated design increases the building’s height from eight to nine storeys and remodels the top levels to create new amenity spaces for occupiers and the public, with a roof terrace and garden at the top of the building, which will be publicly accessible outside office hours. The scheme is targeting BREEAM Outstanding.
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HB Reavis has received planning approval from Lambeth Council for the redevelopment of 10 Leake Street in London. The consented scheme will turn an old office building into a 233-room purpose-built student accommodation development.
Known for delivering workspace in central London, this approval represents a new direction for HB Reavis as it diversifies its portfolio, the company said.
Located next to London Waterloo Station, the proposals received strong support from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Designed by PLP Architecture, the plans will include a mix of studios and shared cluster flats.
LEASING
Seven new retail brands have opened at The Whiteley, including health and fitness operator Third Space, cinema Everyman, Nela, 3812 Gallery, Duck & Dry, Adventures in Furniture and Guillam Coffee House.
The £1.5B restoration has been developed by Valouran and joint investment partners Mark and CC Land, and each of the newly opened brands is located across the building’s ground and lower-ground floors, with frontages on Queensway, Redan Place and Porchester Gardens.
With a total of 19 brands planned for the 1.1M SF site, several further openings are planned during 2026, including Mayfair-based café Lalï, indoor golf operator 14 Clubs, pharmacy Whiteley Health, Japanese mochi bar Yuum, South Kensington-based salon Oblique Beauty and luxury food store Willy’s. The commercial offering at The Whiteley is now 89% let.
PEOPLE
Greykite has appointed Baptiste Meurisse and Silvia Cadau from Blackstone to expand the business.
Meurisse was formerly a principal at Blackstone, where he spent seven years on the real estate asset management team. His primary focus will be on Blackstone’s residential portfolio companies in Spain and Denmark.
Cadau has also joined from Blackstone, where she was a senior associate, spending five years on the real estate acquisitions team. She will support the sourcing, underwriting and implementation of new investment strategies, as well as ongoing portfolio management.
