Silbury Finance provides £64m for St Albans later living scheme

Silbury Finance, the Oaktree Capital Management-backed development lender, has provided a £64.3m loan to a jv established by Elysian Residences and Senior Living Investment Partners, which is itself a partnership between Pension Insurance Corporation and Octopus Real Estate. The loan takes Silbury’s investment in the UK living sector to £500m in less than two years. The £64.3m will fund the acquisition and development of a 124-residence luxury retirement scheme by Elysian in How Wood, a village to the south of St Albans. The development will comprise 80 apartments and 44 two-bedroom bungalows, along with a restaurant, café/bar, library, wellbeing and therapy centre, cinema, village green and orchard gardens. Gavin Eustace, founding partner at Silbury Finance, said: “Silbury was launched in direct response to the paucity of highly experienced, well-funded and sustainability-focused lenders in the mid-ticket residential development space. “Exacerbated by the retrenchment from the sector caused by the Covid pandemic, we have witnessed unprecedented and increasing enquiry levels from a range of borrowers, from global institutions through to dynamic regional SMEs, for our bespoke capital solutions. “We retain a high conviction in the structurally undersupplied living sector, which continues to demonstrate attractive counter-cyclical characteristics and is underpinned by highly favourable demographic and societal drivers. “Backed by a deeply experienced global real estate investor in Oaktree, and with further market dislocation likely as a result of the challenging economic backdrop, we have ambitions to accelerate our deployment in 2024. While remaining highly disciplined in our underwriting, we have a strong pipeline of borrowers seeking flexible funding solutions for high-quality and environmentally responsible schemes.” Domas Karsokas, investment director at Octopus Real Estate, added: “We are pleased to be moving forward with the development of what will be a market-leading retirement community, alongside Elysian, PIC and Silbury. All businesses recognise the need to deliver IRCs at pace and share some of our core values, particularly in terms of sustainability. The structure and terms of the debt are well suited to a development project and will support returns to our institutional investors.” Gavin Stein, chief executive of Elysian Residences, said: “Careful consideration of the market has revealed St Albans to be a prime location for development of a luxury retirement scheme, with strong demand anticipated from local people aged 65-plus whose choices are limited in the immediate area. Elysian Residences will set a new standard within the St Albans market and challenge existing perceptions of retirement living.” To send feedback, e-mail akanksha.soni@eg.co.uk or tweet @AkankshaEG or @EGPropertyNews Photo © Elysian Residences courtesy of FTI Consulting