Fortwell provides £30m for London Fields development

Boutique bridging and development finance specialist Fortwell Capital has provided a £30 million loan to fund the development of a mixed-use project in the east London borough of Hackney.

The loan has been provided to Gold Section Developments, a firm which has developed mixed-use schemes in London including a £14.4 million apartment and office project in Hoxton Square and 13 apartments at the £5.8 million Providence Place in Islington.

Fortwell is financing a mixed residential and commercial development located at London Fields. The scheme has planning permission for 42 “upscale” residential units covering 32,540 square feet and 21,969 square feet of commercial space.

The residential element of the scheme will comprise 12 one-bed apartments, 16 two-bed and 14 three-bed apartments. It will also include 20 commercial studios. Completion is scheduled for February 2018.

Planning consent has been obtained for the demolition of the existing vacant warehouse and construction of two four-five storey buildings with lower ground and basement levels, plus a three-storey mews block and a single-storey commercial block.

Fortwell has provided Gold Section with a gross advance of £29.5 million over a period of 24 months. The facility reflects a loan-to-cost basis of 81 percent. Although Fortwell declined to disclose the gross loan-to-development value figure, the firm said it was at the higher end of its lending parameters. The deal was brokered by property finance advisers Brotherton Real Estate.

Knightsbridge-based Fortwell, a subsidiary of developer Christian Candy’s CPC Group, specialises in high-value, short and medium-term real estate finance.

“As might be expected in the current environment, this transaction was not without its difficulties. We stepped in at a time of pre and post-referendum jitters amongst some funders, but we liked what we saw,” said Colin Sanders, Fortwell Capital’s chief executive officer.

“Gold Section Developments have an impressive track record of success and possess an unrivalled local knowledge of the areas in which they develop. Together with the signature expertise provided by Brotherton, we had little difficulty getting comfortable with the structure of the deal,” Sanders added.

“Brexit did have an impact and while some lenders in the market were pulling back, the team at Fortwell gave Gold Section and Brotherton all the confidence we needed that they would deliver on time,” added Richard Fine, principal at Brotherton Real Estate.