Cain Hoy provides £290m to Lodha’s Lincoln Square

Real estate investor and lender Cain Hoy has provided a £290 million construction loan to Lodha UK to fund the development of the Lincoln Square residential scheme in central London.

The loan is one of the largest from a single lender for a UK residential project and is significant for being provided by a non-bank lender.

Lodha UK, the London based development arm of India’s largest real estate developer, Lodha Developers, is currently on-site with the residential project, located adjacent to the London School of Economics in London’s Holborn area. Lincoln Square, the renamed New Court, 48 Carey Street, is to be redeveloped as 202 apartments.

The scheme is expected to be completed in the last quarter of 2018. More than 78 units worth almost £130 million have been sold since the launch in May 2016.

The facility includes £80 million to replace existing debt, provided by Cain Hoy last autumn, and the balance will be used to complete the project over the next two years. In October 2016, Real Estate Capital reported that Cain Hoy provided a £78 million bespoke finance package to refinance the site acquisition finance, which was understood to be a senior loan from pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank and mezzanine from Apollo.

Lodha acquired the site in early 2014 for £90 million from WELPUT, winning planning consent and then appointing Multiplex as contractor in 2015.

“We are extremely pleased to have completed our first development funding in the UK which showcases the confidence of the market in the Lodha UK platform,” said Ab Shome, finance director, for Lodha UK.

“We received competitive offers from three consortiums, and are thankful to all three providers for their interest,” he added.

“Having already supported Lodha UK through an initial financing to enable the start of construction on site, we are pleased to continue our relationship with the Lodha team by providing this significant loan,” said Matteo Milan, director of Cain Hoy.