Gregory Property Group - Halifax, Broad Street Plaza, Halifax

Date: 08 Sep 2010

£35 million funding deal in Yorkshire.

Terms have been agreed on one of the largest property funding deals in Yorkshire since the start of the recession.

Santander Corporate Banking is to fund the leisure and hotel phase of Gregory Projects' Broad Street Plaza scheme in Halifax, in a deal worth £35 million. This new relationship will be managed by Santander's regional corporate banking team in Leeds.

The announcement secures the future of the £50 million Broad Street Plaza development, one of the largest regeneration schemes to start on site in Yorkshire this year, generating in excess of 220 long term jobs, as well as almost 200 construction jobs for Elland-based Marshalls Construction after it was appointed main contractor for the scheme. The Gross Value Added impact to the local economy will be in the order of an additional £8.0m per annum.

The funding agreement with Santander follows a £3 million investment from Yorkshire Forward announced earlier this year, which enabled clearance works to start on site and created the confidence for private sector funding to follow.

The 277,000 sq ft scheme is already 70% pre-let and David Brimblecombe, managing director of Gregory Projects, part of the Leeds-based Gregory Group, says: "We are delighted that Santander Corporate Banking has agreed to support the first phase of the Broad Street Plaza development. To secure a funding deal of this size on a major mixed used scheme in the current climate is fantastic news and a very positive message for the region.

"The lack of development finance available has been well documented, however, we have been delighted by the high level of service we have received from Santander's corporate banking team in Leeds and particularly James Espley our relationship director.

"Calderdale Council has also played an important role in today's announcement by permitting us to complete the development in two phases, which makes it more viable for the developer and more easily fundable."

Situated directly opposite the Town Hall, Broad Street Plaza delivers a 'destination' leisure location for Halifax with the town's first large scale multiplex cinema, a number of good branded restaurants with outdoor seating areas in a family friendly environment and much needed purpose built car parking.

Phase one will comprise over 85% of the scheme equating to almost 235,000 sq ft and is due for completion in March 2012.

Night image of projected scheme at Broad Street Plaza, Halifax

Where do I go now?: » View the latest news items » View the news archive » Subscribe to Weekly Property Newsletter » Submit news