LaSalle Investment Management’s £440m Residential Finance vehicle has broadened its mandate to include lending to hotels.
The fund has agreed to lend a £50m development facility to Melford Capital Partners for the redevelopment of the University Arms Hotel in Cambridge. This is the fund’s seventh loan since its launch in May last year – and is the first time that it has diverged from its original brief of lending to residential property and student housing.
The hotel is the oldest in Cambridge, and the redevelopment will see the demolition of a 1960s and 1970s extension to the property. Planning permission has been granted to increase the number of rooms from 119 to 192, as part of a redevelopment designed by architect John Simpson.
Amy Aznar, head of debt investments and special situations, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Melford on this exciting project, which marks a milestone for LRF with its first hotel development loan. We continue to back high-quality sponsors and developments throughout the UK in student housing and hotels, as well as further residential projects within the M25. We also continue to focus on our wider lending activities providing mezzanine and whole loans in Western Europe.”
sophia.furber@estatesgazette.com
