Goodstone Living has secured over £100 mln (€116 mln) of debt financing and appointed a construction partner to support the delivery of the UK’s largest modular build-to-rent residential community in Birmingham.
The debt financing, provided by NatWest and Allied Irish Bank, will support the transformation of a 4.2-acre (17,000 m2) island site in Birmingham’s creative quarter, Digbeth.
The build-to-rent residential community, branded Smith’s Garden, will comprise 550 rental homes centred around over an acre of private garden, one of the largest in central Birmingham. Other amenities include a co-working space, fitness centre and creche.
The design-led homes being developed by Goodstone Living at Smith’s Garden will be spread across six buildings, including a 26-storey landmark tower. The buildings will be manufactured offsite by Elements Europe at its modular factory in Telford.
Martin Bellinger, principal, Goodstone Living, said: 'Smith’s Garden is one of the largest and most exciting build-to-rent residential projects in the UK and is testament to the evolution of this sector over the past 15 years. We want to show it is not just possible but desirable to build better now, and this helps improve and future proof assets for all of our stakeholders.
'This project also marks an important milestone for Goodstone which now has almost 1,000 units under construction and a large pipeline of development opportunities to scale its portfolio by leveraging the market dislocation driven by a higher rates environment and challenges facing the traditional build-to-sell model.'
Goodstone Living will reduce embodied carbon emissions during construction by more than 30% (versus the Riba 2025 benchmark) through its use of cement-replacement with ground granulated blast furnace slag, and locally manufactured, volumetric modular construction.
It will also reduce operational carbon emissions by more than 50% (vs. Part L 2021 Building Regulations) by implementing the latest heating and enhanced building fabric technologies. This includes fully electrifying the scheme with an air source heat pump in each apartment, on-site energy production and triple glazed windows.
The project is expected to create 75 new local jobs and is targeting the delivery of over £2 mln of socio-economic benefits for the local community through access to learning for local children, apprenticeships and work experience for young people, as well as those with learning difficulties and from under-represented backgrounds.
The development will also exceed current fire regulations, with all buildings featuring dual staircases to enhance resident safety and wellbeing.
Construction will commence imminently and be completed during 2025.
