Commercial Property Development

Providing warehouse and office buildings for industry and commerce

Stoford Funds £15m Developments

Birmingham-based Stoford Developments has found the key to implementing its future growth plans after joining forces with a major funding provider.

Stoford Ventures has proved to be so successful that it has already led to the funding of four major investment and development projects in just three months.

The 50:50 joint venture was formed last November with Uberior Ventures Ltd, the equity arm of Bank of Scotland Joint Ventures.It has an initial £50 million of committed debt and equity funding at its disposal to acquire and develop commercial property.

More than £15 million has been committed to four projects beginning with the £5.6 million purchase of Birmingham’s former Stock Exchange.

The historic 1920s landmark in a conservation area at Great Charles Street was in use continuously as a stock exchange until the Big Bang of 1987 resulted in its traditional dealing room being replaced.

The building is to be refurbished and re-let to its current occupier EFG Harris Allday, a leading firm of stockbrokers and investment managers owned by EFG Private Bank, on improved terms.

The funding has also enabled Stoford to develop a piece of prime land and create new job opportunities in Leicestershire with the unconditional purchase in just three weeks of a 12-acre site at Sunningdale Park, which is superbly located close to Junction 21A of the M1.

Stoford acquired the former sports field site from Black Rock - formerly Merrill Lynch - for a warehouse development of up to 265,000 sq ft, and contributed a six-figure sum towards creating new local sports facilities.

Director Dom Stokes said: “The development has attracted excellent interest from a range of occupiers and we expect to pre-let at least 50 per cent of the site within the next six months. It could have an end value of £25 million.”

Stoford Ventures funding has also supported the £3.7 million purchase of a 4.2-acre site at Basildon that has been pre-let to the Driving Standards Agency.

Work will start on site in May this year on what will be third test centre that Stoford has built for the DSA following similar schemes at Granby Avenue in Garretts Green, Birmingham and in Burton-on Trent.

The project will include demolishing an existing industrial building and providing a new office building and a safe off-road test area for would-be motorcyclists.

Funding has also gone towards the £1.1 million purchase of an industrial site in Yardley for a new housing scheme with a potential end value of £4 million.

Work is about to start on site on the 18,000 sq ft regeneration scheme at Mansfield Road, which will see the building of 16 new homes and the conversion of Grade II-listed Pinfold barn to two new homes.

The timber-framed outhouse dating back to the 17th Century used to be a garage for Jowett Cars, which produced the legendary Jowett Jupiter that won Le Mans three years in a row in the 1950s, and more recently an automotive tool shop.

Director Dom Stokes, said: “Stoford Ventures has enabled us to become a fast mover in gaining approvals and sealing deals for investment projects and speculative schemes valued at between £1 million and £15 million.

He added: “As an active asset manager, we will be using the committed funding to grow mainly through refurbishments, redevelopments and lease re-gearing - and then trading on.”

Uberior has provided £11 billion worth of debt and equity funding to joint venture partners since 1999.