12 Jan 2023
Cole Waterhouse and Taurus Investment Holdings LLC, a US-based global private equity real estate firm through its UK arm, Taurus RE Investment Ltd (Taurus UK), have completed on the formation of a second joint venture partnership to bring forward a key development site in Digbeth, Birmingham.
Upper Trinity Street (UTS), is a £260 million mixed-use scheme which will deliver 943 new homes and a new public park for Birmingham.
Taurus, has been operating for over 45 years in the multifamily, office, logistics, mixed-use, and renewable energy sectors, through its recently launched UK footprint, Taurus UK.
The completion of the joint venture follows the purchase of the site by Cole Waterhouse in October 2022 with debt facility provider Ingenious and Auxillium Real Estate acting as debt broker.
The joint venture now intends to appoint an investment agent and seek institutional funding partners to deliver the first two phases of the development which will transform the 5.2 acre industrial site into an exciting cultural, commercial and residential scheme with permanent homes for the Pat Benson Boxing Academy, the Museum of Youth Culture and the Birmingham Music Archive. It will also include the creation of Pump House Park which will sit alongside the canal and the historic lock keepers cottage which will be retained.
Peter A. Merrigan, CEO of Taurus Investment Holdings said: “Today’s announcement is another step in meeting the UK’s growing demand for value-add development opportunities. We’re pleased to work with Cole Waterhouse once again to address Birmingham’s housing shortage. Birmingham is an exciting place to invest as it represents one of the UK’s strongest regional economies, is a destination of choice for students, and has proven the ability to retain extensive growth thanks to the presence of industries, like technology, finance and media.”
Nick Jacobs Managing Director of Taurus UK said: “Cole Waterhouse has designed another great scheme and we are delighted to be working with them once again on a second high quality venture. It allows us to continue our focus on investing equity in development and investments in the UK, despite the difficult economic headwinds that 2022 presented. We continue to have a pipeline of interesting projects coming forward and choose to work with best in class partners such as Cole Waterhouse.”
Designed by Corstorphine & Wright, UTS will deliver a blend of rentable and open market sales homes, some with live-work space and roof gardens, a 133-bedroom hotel, 60,000 sq ft of flexible commercial space, car parking and large new areas of public realm across a network of landscaped yards, squares and hidden spaces.
The development is expected to create 600 jobs during the construction phase and up to 313 additional jobs once built.
Speaking about the acquisition, Damian Flood, CEO at Cole Waterhouse commented: “This is our second joint venture with Taurus and we are excited that they have selected Cole Waterhouse and UTS as their second BTR targeted development in the UK. There is continued confidence in the UK’s growing BTR market and we’re looking forward to building on this relationship with Taurus as we bring the development forward.”
He continued: “There has been a huge collaborative effort from the stakeholders including the City Council, the local community of Digbeth, the Canal & River Trust and our project team and I would like to thank everyone for supporting our vision and for their unwavering commitment to the delivery of UTS.”
Press contact: Clare Coyne, Inform Communications 07947735060, clare.coyne@informcomms.co.uk
About Cole Waterhouse:
Cole Waterhouse is a specialist UK-based developer of Industrial & Logistics and Residential schemes and has a development pipeline of £1 billion over the next 3 years.
Under its residential arm, Cole Waterhouse has planning permission for over 2,000 apartments across Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham. The logistics team is developing over 2 million sq. ft. of industrial space with a number of international joint venture partners. Based in Manchester with a second office in London the business is managed by directors Damian Flood, Rod Priestley and Greg Ritchie.
With Henderson Park the team is delivering Konect 62, a 136-acre tri-modal logistics development at the former Kellingley Colliery site in Yorkshire; 24 miles from Leeds city centre. At 735,000 sq ft, ‘Big K’ is the largest of four units in phase I and will be the North’s largest speculatively built warehouse, available in 2023.
In Newcastle-under-Lyme, in partnership with Peveril Securities and funded by Aver Property, Cole Waterhouse is developing Novus Point, a speculative development of 330,000 sq ft logistics, warehouse and office accommodation.
Cole Waterhouse has also acquired a 15-acre development site adjacent to Salford’s AJ Bell Stadium and has submitted a planning application for 300,000 sq ft of logistics space across two units, measuring 170,000 sq ft and 130,000 sq ft, which will be delivered in 2023.
In Leeds, Cole Waterhouse is working with Boston-based Tonia Investments to deliver a 3.8-acre brownfield site which will be known as Leeds City Village, which has planning consent for 1012 apartments, over five separate blocks, with an estimated GDV of £230 million.
In the North West, Cole Waterhouse is on site at Anchorage Gateway, an £86 million BTR project in the heart of Salford Quays and MediaCityUK. The project is being delivered with Boston-based Taurus Investment Holdings and is due for completion in 2023.
The team has recently completed No1 Old Trafford, a 354-unit PRS scheme in Trafford Park and Arch View House in Wembley for UCFB and Unite Students – a £100 million GDV project that offered 678 student beds, as well as full-time accommodation and teaching facilities to UCFB.
About Taurus Investment Holdings, LLC
Established in 1976, Taurus is a global real estate private equity firm with over 45 years of experience as a general partner, investor, and operator. By empowering and combining the strength of in-house experts in the fields of multifamily, office, logistics, mixed-use, and renewable energy, the firm has created targeted, scalable investments into value-add, core-plus, and development opportunities.
Taurus is focused on using innovative energy efficient technologies to make the extensive infrastructure investments required to decarbonize residential and commercial buildings through its EcoSmart Solution and RENU Communities affiliates.
Throughout North America and Europe, Taurus is consistently recognized as one of the premier owners of both directly managed and joint venture commercial real estate. To date, Taurus has purchased and developed more than 70 million square feet of residential, office, industrial, retail and other commercial real estate assets throughout the world with a total acquisition value of over $10.4 billion.
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