Lloyds Banking Group has made a comeback in the property lending sector with an £82m development loan for the Trinity Walk retail scheme in
The corporate real estate team of Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets has provided the development facility to the consortium which has taken over construction of the 500,000 sq ft scheme.
The development was previously owned by Modus and backed by debt from Anglo Irish Bank.
The consortium, made up of AREA Property Partners,
The loan is the first instance of Lloyds providing debt to a new borrower on a significant scale since the credit crunch began.
It is also one of the first significant development loans to be written since the end of the downturn, as banks have typically looked to lend only against prime investment property.
KPMG was appointed administrator on Trinity Walk last March after Modus Properties was unable to provide a £50m cash injection for the £150m development. HBOS, now part of Lloyds, was a lender to the Modus group.
Wilson Lamont, director at AREA Property Partners, said: “We are delighted to have completed this facility with Lloyds, in what continues to be a challenging financing market for new development.”
michael.phillips@estatesgazette.com
