BentallGreenOak has provided an £80m (€91m) loan to help Apache Capital Partners and Harrison Street finance the construction of a build-to-rent (BTR) scheme in Scotland.

Apache Capital and Harrison Street said they have secured the debt funding to finance the construction of Holland Park on the site of the former Strathclyde Police headquarters in central Glasgow.

The 433-home development is the fifth investment to be brought forward in the Apache Capital and Harrison Street joint venture and will be developed and operated by Moda Living. Start on-site for the first phase is due shortly, with practical completion expected in late 2023.

BentallGreenOak, which had in the past helped fund a number of site acquisitions by Apache Capital in cities across England and Scotland, has also previously provided construction financing for Harrison Street and Torsion Developments’ 290-studio student accommodation scheme in Birmingham.

Jim Blakemore, global head of debt at BentallGreenOak, said: “Against the backdrop of pandemic-related uncertainty we are seeing across the real estate market, build-to-rent continues to perform well, and we are delighted to be supporting a best-in-class product that Apache Capital, Harrison Street, and Moda Living have created.

“We see a huge amount of opportunity across living real estate and hotels, and believe that demand for agile and relationship-driven debt partners will only grow.”

Blakemore said as traditional lenders continue to pull back from the market, there will be a huge growth opportunity for alternative providers.

“With a well-capitalised, global footprint we are able to act quickly and help our clients secure the deals they want and build those relationships over the long term.”

John Dunkerley, co-founder and CEO at Apache Capital Partners said: “The backing of one of the world’s leading real estate investment managers for our Holland Park scheme with Moda Living highlights lenders’ growing comfort with build-to-rent as an asset class.

“Covid-19 has revealed the vulnerability of traditional property investments such as retail and offices to disruption. As a result, lenders, together with institutional investors such as pension funds and insurers, are looking to grow their exposure to alternative asset classes like residential for rent.”

Paul Bashir, CEO of Harrison Street’s European business, said: “Harrison Street looks forward to completing Holland Park with world-class partners, Apache and Moda and continuing to identify new opportunities for top-tier BTR assets with high-quality amenities in strategic markets.”

Johnny Caddick, CEO at Moda Living, said: “The backing of a major global real estate player such as BentallGreenOak is another testament to the strength and quality of the Moda product as well as a statement of confidence in our ability to deliver.”

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