This Week's London Deal Sheet: Cheyne Writes £100M Regeneration Loan
The Deal Sheet is a weekly compilation of Greater London and beyond's biggest leases, sales, financing deals, construction updates and personnel moves. Have news you’d like to submit? Email mark.faithfull@bisnow.com.
Alternative investment manager Cheyne Capital has provided a £100M senior loan to Dorchester Living for Heyford Park, a commercial and residential regeneration scheme on the site of a former U.S. and RAF airbase in Oxfordshire.
Managed by Dorchester Living since 2009, the scheme has already delivered 1,200 homes, alongside community facilities and commercial spaces, plus Heyford Park School, tennis courts, a hotel, a restaurant, a pharmacy and a Sainsbury’s Local.
Dorchester Living is preparing a new planning submission for 6,000 to 8,000 homes, including 30% affordable homes, assisted living properties and an allocated selection of houses for key workers. The loan will refinance existing facilities and provide additional funding toward the site master plan and infrastructure improvements.
FINANCE
Newmark Group has arranged a £153M loan to refinance a portfolio of four UK logistics assets on behalf of Brookfield and Copley Point Capital.
Brookfield and Copley Point Capital assembled the 1.6M SF portfolio in 2023, located across the north-west, East Midlands and London regions, consisting of four warehouses on long-term leases.
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Macquarie Asset Management, on behalf of Phoenix Group, has provided £235M of long-term financing to Westminster City Council to acquire more than 350 temporary accommodation properties within the borough of Westminster.
Purchased from A2Dominion, a not-for-profit regulated housing association, the portfolio will help WCC address homelessness in the London borough.
The inflation-linked funding has a term of 42 years, including an initial two-year rent-free period for WCC. As part of the terms of the funding, WCC will refurbish the properties to achieve a minimum energy performance certificate rating of C.
PLANNING
Brent Cross Town’s first retirement living homes have received planning permission for 148 properties. The units will be delivered by Audley Group and Senior Living Investment Partners and operated by Audley Group.
The homes will be the first in London to operate under Audley Group’s Mayfield Villages brand and the second to be developed in its portfolio. They will have 17K SF of amenities, including a village hall, a health and wellness centre, a residents lounge, outdoor gardens and terraces, and a café-bistro that will be open to the public.
In total, Brent Cross Town, one of Europe’s largest regeneration projects, will include 6,700 new homes, 3M SF of offices, a high street, schools, a university and 50 acres of parks and playing fields.
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Berkeley Estate Asset Management and architect KPF are bringing forward initial proposals for a major transformation and extension of 33 Cavendish Square, an island site between Oxford Street and Cavendish Square.
Early plans for the mixed-use scheme involve more than half of the existing buildings being retained, including the tower, with the scheme providing newly refurbished office space.
The building was built in the early 1960s and was built as a basement, ground and first-floor podium with a 21-storey office tower accessed from Cavendish Square. There is a further six-storey element above Oxford Street that is now vacant, having previously been occupied by the London College of Fashion.
Alongside the new office and retail offering, the building is proposed to serve as a flagship hub for creative enterprise, and public consultation on the initial proposals is underway.
LEASING
South Korean lender Shinhan Bank is to take 8,600 SF at Stanhope and Mitsubishi Estate’s 8 Bishopsgate in the City of London. The bank has signed a 10-year lease for the 44th floor.
Shinhan Bank, currently located at 77 Gracechurch Street, is a leading South Korean financial institution and a subsidiary of Shinhan Financial Group, one of Korea’s largest financial holding companies. The top three floors remain available at 8 Bishopsgate.
DEVELOPMENT
Segro has completed the 35-acre strategic rail freight interchange at its multimodal development Segro Logistics Park Northampton, enabling freight trains to access the site ahead of the launch of regular services later in the year.
Maritime Transport agreed to operate the terminal in June 2022, and the completion follows a 54-hour rail possession over the Easter period, during which Segro and contractor Winvic, along with Network Rail, delivered all critical elements of the scheme, including the commissioning of the main line and intermodal signalling.
PEOPLE
Related Argent has appointed John Forrester as its new chair, effective 1 May, as longtime Chair David Partridge retires from the company after 35 years.
Forrester was appointed as strategic adviser to the Related Argent board in May 2024 and will now work with the leadership team to support the growth of the business.
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Helical has promoted Rob Sims to the newly created role of chief investment officer, alongside five other promotions.
Matt Redgrove has been promoted to senior development executive, Fran Young to senior asset manager, Lesley Dodd to group financial controller, Martin Bramhill to head of tax, and Lucy Miller to property and finance executive.
