Peel secures long-term portfolio financing

Creators of MediaCityUK and Liverpool and Wirral Waters schemes completes long-term deal with Aviva

Article posted: 31 Mar 2011

The Peel Group has this week completed a long-term commercial real estate financing with Aviva Commercial Finance. The £205m, 20 year senior debt is secured on 53 assets comprising a diversified mix of industrial, logistics, office and retail properties, predominantly located in the North-West of England and Scotland.

“We are delighted to have a new funding partner in Aviva Commercial Finance. We were impressed with their long term view and their hands on approach in getting the deal done quickly. We look forward to working with Aviva and exploring new opportunities across the Group”, said John Whittaker, Chairman of Peel.

Kevin Sale, Commercial Finance Director at Aviva said: “We identified a positive alignment of interests with Peel and are delighted to have established a new long term relationship with a company of their pedigree”.

Peel’s assets include MediaCityUK, a bespoke community for the creative and digital industries located on the banks of Manchester's historic ship canal at Salford Quays. 36 of the 200 acres have already been transformed to feature one of the biggest HD studio developments in Europe; 400 apartments; a Holiday Inn hotel, a brand new tram stop in the heart of a spectacular five-acre piazza and a wide range of office space in the Manchester district.

Another significant project, Peel Waters - the Liverpool Waters and Wirral Waters schemes- will result in the regeneration of 650 acres of redundant docks in Liverpool and Birkenhead. It is envisaged that the total new building floor area created will be over 32m sq ft, with a mixture of commercial, retail, residential, cultural and leisure development generating a significant amount of new Grade A office space in Liverpool.

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Posted by Janet