£136.8m refinance for two Manchester apartment towers

Real estate finance provider Maslow Capital has completed a £136.8m refinance for Vita Group, secured on the North and East Towers at Circle Square, a mixed-use development on Manchester's Oxford Road corridor.

The refinance repays the towers' existing debt and funds Vita's purchase of its joint venture partner's interest in both, bringing them into full Vita ownership. It also supports the phased sale of 487 completed and let apartments and 14 ground-floor commercial units.

Vita sells the apartments fully furnished as income-producing investments, and reports demand from UK and international buyers. Residents have access to a 24-hour concierge, private dining rooms, a cinema room and lounges, and the North Tower also has a gym and a co-working space.

Circle Square sits on the former BBC site on Oxford Road and combines residential, Grade A office, retail and leisure space with public open space, including Symphony Park at its centre. John Sisk & Son built the North and East Towers, which reached practical completion in 2021. The scheme is within walking distance of the University of Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University and the central business district, and a minute's walk from Oxford Road station.

Vita Group develops and operates purpose-built student and residential assets across the UK and Europe. Maslow has worked with the group before, having financed Select Properties' Port Street and City Suites 2 schemes in Manchester.

"Circle Square is a completed, income-producing asset in one of Manchester's strongest city-centre locations, with a unit sales programme that was already well progressed," said Matt Pigram, senior director, origination at Maslow Capital.

"The facility gives Vita the flexibility to refinance, take full ownership of the towers and continue executing its strategy for the assets, with rental income servicing the debt in the meantime. It is a clear example of how a facility can be structured around an operating asset rather than a construction programme."

"Large completed residential schemes increasingly need funding that bridges the period between practical completion and the sale of the final units," explained Daniel Murray, senior director, short-term finance at Maslow Capital.

"That is exactly what our short-term finance offering is designed to do. Working with a sponsor we know well, on an asset of this scale and standing, meant we could deliver a substantial facility within the borrower's timetable."

"Bringing the North and East Towers into full Vita ownership was a natural opportunity for us given our long-standing history with Circle Square," noted Peter Shipley, finance director at Vita Group.

"These are high-quality, established assets, and our facility with Maslow gives us the flexibility to execute the next phase of our strategy while continuing to operate the buildings as successful, income-producing investments."

"Our established relationship with Maslow, and their understanding of both our business and the assets, helped us deliver the transaction efficiently."