UK real estate fund manager Moorfield Group has entered into its fourth development agreement with Glenbrook, on behalf of its Moorfield Real Estate Fund V, forward-funding a 440 home Multifamily Build-to-Rent (BTR) development in Trafford, Manchester.
Moorfield - which acquired the site with full planning consent - and Glenbrook will deliver the 440 BTR units at Lumina Village, where an additional 199 units are being delivered by Glenbrook on behalf of Clarion Housing Group as Shared Ownership and Affordable Housing tenures.
Lumina Village forms part of the Civic Quarter Master Plan, where Trafford’s 55 acre Civic Quarter is being regenerated to provide up to 4,000 new homes, public realm, green space and 50,000 m2 of new office and commercial stock. Plans include the redevelopment of 20 hectares of brownfield land.
Set to complete in 2026, Moorfield’s £120 mln (€140 mln) GDV scheme will be arranged across four buildings and a central podium, with residential accommodation including apartments and townhouses, which will be aimed at young professionals and families. All residents will have access to ground and podium level amenities; resident lounges, reception areas, co-working space, a gym and studio, roof terrace, cycle storage and a 200 space car park.
Lumina Village is the fourth Multifamily BTR development by Moorfield and Glenbrook, the third in Manchester, and the relationship will have delivered over 1,000 homes when the scheme completes.
Moorfield was one of the earliest movers in the UK BTR market, which followed on from its activities in the student accommodation market through Domain, a 5,000 bed platform that was established in 1997. This has also been complemented by establishing other living sector strategies in student housing of multiple occupation (HMO), co-living, and single-family housing, as well as in integrated retirement communities and nursing homes.
The UK fund manager’s residential strategies are targeting the combined delivery of an initial 5,000 homes. MREIT, Moorfield’s private real estate investment trust established in the summer of 2023, is targeting £500 mln of investment capacity, with an initial focus on aggregating a portfolio of family homes and HMOs.
Charles Ferguson-Davie, Chief Investment Officer, Moorfield Group, commented: 'Our early BTR investments performed well and we are now excited to be getting back into the subsector, having been priced out for a number of years and having sold all of our previous projects. We think the residential sector continues to offer opportunity, driven by an acute supply and demand imbalance, and the opportunity to provide a far better offering in the market place.'
Shoosmiths, Quartz and CBRE advised Moorfield.
Moorfield’s other BTR development was The Forge in Newcastle, which was sold in 2019, and Moorfield also converted Velocity Village, a scheme that was designed for sale, into a rental community in Sheffield, before sold in 2015.
