This Innovative West End Mixed-Use Scheme Just Bagged A £450M Loan
A mixed-use real estate scheme in the West End that aims to make money from advertising and music as much as offices and apartments has secured a £450M debt package.
Consolidated Developments, the property company of low-profile investor Laurence Kirschel, has bagged the loan from CarVal Investors and Credit Suisse, React News reported.
The loan is secured against a scheme known as the Outernet, which totals 170K SF across two buildings on a 1.1-acre site near Tottenham Court Road tube station.
The scheme will comprise 50 apartments, offices, a hotel, rooftop bars, a restaurant, a three-storey 2,000-capacity music venue and 24K SF of advertising screens. The latter will take the form of a semi-open cube, which will include the world’s largest single LED screen. Practical completion was reached in January.
The advertising on the screens will change according to the time of day, and Consolidated plans to roll out similar schemes in big cities around the world, React said.
The new debt refinances a £360M construction loan from Blackstone, which was scheduled to mature next year, and values the scheme at around £850M.
It will back onto Denmark Street, a road intrinsically associated with the British music industry. In the 1950s, several music producers set up offices on the street, and artists including David Bowie, The Kinks and Elton John have all recorded there.
Kirschel first bought property on the street in 1993. It has taken 28 years and more than 100 individual acquisitions to piece the development site together.
