Buy to Rent development for MediaCity underway

Work is due to start in October on a new ‘build to rent’ development in Salford’s Media City.

The development is being brought forward by a new partnership of Atlas Residential and IP Investment Management, with Bouygues UK as the Main Contractor and Peel Land & Property as Developer.

The project will be MediaCityUK’s first forward funded build-to-rent development and will comprise a mix of apartments on a £55M waterfront site. Due to start construction this October, the building will feature 238 contemporary apartments, benefitting from the established retail, leisure and business area within MediaCityUK. Continued demand for properties within this regeneration district is high, with a recent announcement seeing Kellogg relocating its headquarters to the site from Trafford, and of course our own high profile move to occupy offices within the development.

The development will provide a mix of one-, two-, and three-bedroom high quality properties offering first class residential amenities from an onsite club lounge to an outdoor landscaped terrace facing the waterfront.

This is Atlas’ third BtR investment following its projects in and Birmingham, and an overall double first as there has been no purpose built PRS development in MediaCityUK until now.

In a new partnership, Atlas Residential (“Atlas”) and IP Investment Management (“IPIM”) have acquired a £55m GDV waterfront private rented sector development site in MediaCityUK, Salford, from Peel Land & Property (“Peel”).

Bouygues UK (“Bouygues”) are the contractor and Peel will act as the developer of what will be MediaCityUK’s first forward funded build to rent development.

This is Atlas’ third BtR investment following its projects in Southampton (which is operational this month) and Birmingham, but it is an overall double first because until now there has been no purpose built PRS development in MediaCityUK. Furthermore, this represents a new partnership for Atlas & IPIM, which both parties intend to replicate by capitalising on the success of this deal with further acquisitions.

IPIM’s funds focus on acquiring opportunistic and value add investments in alternative sectors including student accommodation, healthcare, PRS and hotels in Europe, the US and Australia. To date IPIM’s investments in UK markets have comprised the funding of nine student accommodation assets totalling 1,431 beds with a GDV of over £160 million. The acquisition of this site in MediaCityUK represents IPIM’s first investment in the UK PRS sector, where it hopes to replicate the success of its investments in US multifamily.

Jonathon Ivory, Managing Director at Atlas commented: “This acquisition continues Atlas’ thematic ‘first mover advantage’ strategy which we have successfully executed in both Southampton and Birmingham already. We consider MediaCityUK to be a core part of the Greater Manchester regeneration story and by acquiring this asset are pleased to be participating in the success of Peel’s impressive master planned vision.

“Equally, we are excited to be partnering with IPIM who share our goal of seeking out value and opportunities in regions throughout the UK that display the same fundamentals that we look for in our US acquisitions, namely positive population growth in job engine locations with excellent transportation combined with an acute supply / demand housing imbalance.”

Selina Williams, Investment Director at IP Investment Management commented: “We have been monitoring the UK PRS sector for some time, to identify the right operator partner and a site that meets our investment criteria for our first acquisition. The UK PRS sector is a natural progression following our investments in direct-let student accommodation. The calibre of the operator is critical to the success of a PRS investment, and we have every confidence that in Atlas we’ve found a partner who will be able to capitalise on their longstanding experience in the US to deliver a tenant-focused building in the UK. We look forward to working with Atlas on this project, which we hope will be the first of many as we continue to look for new opportunities to acquire well located sites into 2018.”

 

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