£12.4M OFFICE-TO-RESIDENTIAL SCHEME BACKED IN SOUTH LONDON
Development finance lender Atelier has provided a £12.4m loan to fund the conversion of a former office building in Streatham, south London, into 60 studio apartments, alongside two retained ground-floor commercial units.
The facility, structured at 66 per cent loan-to-value over an 18-month term, represents Atelier’s second London deal in as many weeks following an £8.7m funding package for a residential scheme in Lewisham. An initial £5.85m net advance at 90 per cent Day One LTV enabled the borrower to secure the site in a competitive bidding process.
The development comes as Lambeth Council pursues its New Homes Programme, which aims to deliver more than 2,000 homes by 2030, addressing acute local housing pressures.
Rav Kudhail, Lending Director at Atelier, said the deal was completed swiftly: “This is a new borrower relationship and we worked with our client to execute this transaction in 4-weeks from enquiry to completion. We supported our borrower through the bidding process and provided a net advance that secured the site and structured the facility to ensure the completion within the tight timeframes.”
Rajiv Nehru, Chief Executive of Lotus Living, the borrower on the scheme, said: “As a first-time partner, the Atelier team impressed us with their speed and professionalism, delivering development funding with exceptional execution that supported our project’s timely progression.”
Nick Swerner, director at GLPG, which advised on the transaction, added: “We were delighted to close this transaction with Atelier who contributed significant senior leadership time on their side in order to make the transaction meet the tight transaction times. Atelier showed significant commerciality to reach mutual conclusions when hurdles were presented and we look forward to working with the team again in the future.”
The Streatham loan underscores Atelier’s intention to strengthen its position in the capital’s residential development market, where demand for new housing remains acute and competition for well-located sites is intense.
