Elliot Group has agreed to hand student accommodation and residential scheme, Aura, back over to investors.
The scheme was put into administration in March this year after failing to secure funding amid a police probe into the company’s founder, Elliot Lawless.
Now, it has been handed back to several hundreds of individual investors who funded the project prior to the administration. The investors formed a consortium to negotiate with the administrator, David Rubin and Partners, and Lawless, in order to gain the freehold interest in the site.
A neighbouring piece of land was also handed over to investors to guarantee they “can build the scheme out without hindrance”, a statement issued on behalf of Elliot Group said.
Lawless will continue to build the hotel element of the site. Lawless said that on conclusion of the agreement for Aura, he will attempt to complete similar deals for The Residence in Salford and Infinity in Liverpool, the two other schemes placed into administration beside Aura.
Lawless said: “What I’ve done is hand over the profit element to the consortium so that, not only is their core investment protected, but they can share the surplus that a successful completed project will deliver.”
The single largest investor in Aura and a member of the investor consortium, Anna Doeff, said it was the “best possible deal we could arrive at” and added: “We’re now just looking forward to getting the builders back on site and delivering a scheme of which we can all be proud.”
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