Cain Hoy and Sager secure loan for £400m luxury Islington scheme
Cain Hoy, the US private equity firm that fleetingly considered buying Tottenham Hotspur last year, is pushing ahead with the £400m luxury development of a landmark Islington site after securing a £190m loan.
Cain Hoy and its joint venture partner Sager Group are turning the Edwardian former Royal Mail sorting office on Upper Street into a residential, shopping and leisure district called Islington Square.
The pair said that Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking and Investec Structured Property Finance have agreed to provide a £190m loan facility to finance the scheme. Investec SPF has also taken a minority equity stake.
The 500,000 square feet project, designed by architects CZWG, will have around 350 homes including some affordable and serviced apartments together with shops, restaurants and cafes to create a “village-style community” feel.
Work has already started on the site, with the project set to complete in 2017.
Sager chief executive, Giris Rabinovitch, said: "This significant development financing from Lloyds Bank and Investec highlights their confidence in the area, the site and our plans for it. With its central location, excellent transport links and unique atmosphere centred on the exceptional range of leisure, shopping and food options along Upper Street, N1 is already a highly regarded destination; the arrival of Islington Square will only serve to make it even more popular."
Cain Hoy is an offshoot of Guggenheim Partners, the financial services firm that started as a private office managing the fortune of the famous family of the same name that endowed the New York art museum.
Chief executive Jonathan Goldstein, who previously worked for Gerald Ronson’s Heron International, said: “As we prepare to launch the residential element of the scheme, we are pleased to have secured this financing which recognises the rare nature and exceptional promise of this prime site at the heart of Islington.”
Cushman & Wakefield, Orme Retail and Shelly Sandzer are acting as letting agents for the retail and leisure parts of the scheme. Knight Frank, Savills and Beauchamp Estates are instructed on residential.