Ardent backs £200m second phase of Lisbon Street development
A joint venture between Marrico and Helios Real Estate has purchased the land, at Leeds’ former International Swimming Pool site, for a 578-apartment build-to-rent project.
The site acquisition was financed via a loan from The Ardent Companies, the US-based real estate and asset management firm, representing the UK lending debut for its expanded debt platform.
The development will be made up of two towers, of 21 and 32 storeys, with associated gym, residents lounge and communal areas. Work on site is expected to begin in 2025.
Phase one at Lisbon Street, a 529-room PBSA scheme, is currently on site and is due to complete in 2025, opening in time for the next academic year. DMWR’s Manchester office is the architect, working with the main contractor Winvic.
A third phase, a 188-room aparthotel, is also inked in for a start on site in 2025, in what is a booming part of the city centre for large scale development.
With the Wellington Place business district well established, Urbanite Living is among the developers pushing other schemes forward, with a £400m three-tower residential project at the former Yorkshire Post site. McLaren is advancing build-to-rent residential and offices at Wellington Square, while Bruntwood has invested in its West Village offices.
Mark Barnes, managing partner of Marrico, said: “We are delighted to have now purchased the site from Leeds City Council. With full planning consent in place, work will begin in 2025, allowing the Lisbon Street development to play an ever-greater role in bringing more investment and growth into the west of Leeds city centre.”
The loan facility is the first by Ardent since it expanded its US debt platform into the UK. Building on Ardent’s longstanding lending activity in the US, totalling more than $2.3bn, the new platform is targeting both fresh facilities and debt buying across a range of different structured options, with a focus on the UK living sector.
Sunny Lakhtaria, UK head of debt at The Ardent Companies, said: “This loan represents an expansion of our US debt platform and is a terrific milestone for the firm.
“The nature of this facility underlines our ability to move swiftly, enabling the acquisition of this prime site, with planning in place and, in Marrico and Helios, a highly experience development team ready to deliver this great BTR scheme.”
The extension of Ardent’s lending platform into the UK is a key element of its growth strategy, the firm said, and follows its initial entry into the country in 2021.
Since that time, it has completed the acquisition of Touchwood shopping centre in Solihull, the purchase of The Royal Exchange in the City of London, and established a 2.25m sq ft national logistics portfolio.
Legal advice was provided to the JV by Square One and to The Ardent Companies by Addleshaw Goddard.
