LGIM Real Assets announced on Wednesday that its Build to Rent (BTR) Fund is forward funding an £81.5 mln (€90 mln) mixed-use regeneration scheme in Candleriggs Square, Glasgow.
The scheme will deliver 346 BTR homes, 17 parking spaces and 12,800 sq ft (1,190 m2) of commercial space.
LGIM Real Assets, which entered the BTR sector in 2016, currently owns and operates 15 schemes in 11 UK cities, including over 5,000 homes. Candleriggs Square will mark the fund’s second investment in Glasgow, last year having committed to the forward funding of a 324-home BTR scheme at neighboring Buchanan Wharf, again using local developer Drum Property Group to deliver the project.
The 17-storey tower at Candleriggs Square will comprise a mixture of studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom properties, including six duplex penthouse apartments. Commercial units included within the scheme will all meet a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating.
LGIM Real Assets’ £1.9 bn BTR Fund has several projects currently under development, including a 1,000-home scheme in Wandsworth, London, and a 200-home scheme in Brighton. The fund is currently undertaking an international equity raising programme to help meet construction output in line with UK’s requirements for high-quality rental accommodation.
The scheme will make up part of a £300 mln Drum Property Group plan to transform Candleriggs Square, a 3.6 acre regeneration area which will provide a mix of high-quality homes, offices, hotels, restaurants, amenities and landscaped open space. Approval was granted for a ‘Planning Application in Principle’ for Candleriggs Square by Glasgow City Council in May 2020.
Graeme Bone, managing director of Drum Property Group, said: ‘The L&G deal represents a significant step forward in the long-awaited regeneration of one Glasgow’s most prominent gap sites, driving forward the evolution of Candleriggs Square which has quickly established itself as one of Scotland’s largest and most important commercial and residential development sites.’
