25-07-2019
OakNorth Bank – the UK bank powered
by OakNorth – has provided an £11.4m property development finance facility to Ocea, one of the
UK’s leading developers which specialises in commercial
to residential property conversions.
The finance will be used to convert Furness House, a four-storey
office block with 74 accompanying car parking spaces, into 71 residential
units, compromising of 66 one bedroom and five two bedroom flats. The site,
situated just 500 meters away from Redhill town centre, is also a short walk to
Redhill train station, offering regular trains to both London Victoria and
London Bridge in less than 35 minutes, with Gatwick Airport being only a 20 minute
drive away.
Founded in
April 2017 and situated in Southampton, Ocea has an extensive track record in converting
commercial properties to residential units, led by experienced Directors, Justine
Curtis and Glenn Delve. Previous projects include converting Normandy House in
Hemel Hempstead into a five-storey apartment building, consisting of 39 one and
two-bedroom units, as well as converting Hampton House in Southampton into 30
apartments, split between city-pads, one-bed and two-bedroomed flats. However,
this is Ocea’s largest project to date.
Glenn Delve, Director at Ocea, said: “With plenty
of local amenities on offer, as well as excellent transport links to and from
London, the Surrey town of Redhill is extremely popular
amongst families, young professionals and downsizers. Furthermore, the majority
of units on offer in Furness House will qualify for the help to buy scheme,
making them ideal for the first-time buyer market.
“We’re
delighted to be partnering with OakNorth on what is our largest project to date
– the team are extremely well-versed in the property sector and were able to
structure a facility that suits our needs.”
Damien Hughes, Senior Director, Property Finance
at OakNorth, commented: “This development will bring some much needed new homes to a
highly popular commuter town. Given Justine’s and Glenn’s vast experience in
the property development sector and their speciality of developing commercial
sites to residential units, Ocea is the perfect developer to take on the
project. We look forward to working with them
and the wider team at Ocea on additional schemes in the future.”