7 February 2019
Palace Capital plc
("Palace Capital" or the "Company")
Palace Capital agrees new £26.5m secured facility to fund the Hudson Quarter development
Palace Capital (LSE: PCA), the Main Market listed property investment company that has a diversified portfolio of UK regional commercial real estate in carefully selected locations outside of London, is pleased to announce that, through its subsidiary Palace Capital (Developments) Limited, the Company has signed a new £26.5 million loan facility with Barclays Bank Plc. Alongside the Company's existing cash resources, the facility will be used to part finance the mixed-use development of Hudson Quarter, York; consisting of 127 residential apartments, 34,500 sq ft of offices, 5,000 sq ft of commercial space and car parking in central York.
Palace Capital acquired the two-acre site, on which the former 100,000 sq ft Hudson House office building stood, as part of the corporate acquisition of the Sequel Portfolio from Quintain Ltd in 2013.
The Company worked closely with the City of York Council to secure a planning consent in August 2017 to demolish the existing 1960s office blocks and to replace them with the Hudson Quarter development. Demolition was completed in December 2018 and construction work is due to start on site this month with completion of the scheme anticipated in early 2021.
The new facility will be drawn down during the construction phase of the project and repaid with the proceeds from residential sales.
Commenting, Stephen Silvester, Finance Director of Palace Capital said:
"I am pleased we have arranged this facility with Barclays Bank at a competitive rate, through their Leeds office, and we are looking forward to working with them on this project. We have sought throughout to engage with the local community, local authority and now a local Yorkshire-based real estate team from Barclays."
Commenting , Neil Sinclair, Chief Executive of Palace Capital, said:
"We are pleased to have secured funding for this exciting new scheme located centrally in York, within the old historic walls of the city and only 1 minutes' walk from the train station which can be reached from London in under 2 hours. We are confident that the development will attract strong interest from potential residential purchasers as well as commercial and office tenants."
For further information, contact:
Palace Capital plc
Neil Sinclair, Chief Executive
Stephen Silvester, Finance Director
Tel. +44 (0)20 3301 8331
Numis Securities
Heraclis Economides / Oliver Hardy
Tel: +44 (0)20 7260 1000
Arden Partners plc
Paul Shackleton / Ciaran Walsh / Alex Penney
Tel. +44 (0)207 614 5900
FTI Consulting (Financial PR)
Claire Turvey / Methuselah Tanyanyiwa
[email protected]
Tel. +44 (0)20 3727 1000
This announcement contains information which, prior to its disclosure, was inside information for the purpose of the Market Abuse Regulation ("MAR").
About Palace Capital plc (www.palacecapitalplc.com):
Palace Capital plc (LSE: PCA) is a Main Market listed property investment company that has a c. £300 million diversified portfolio of UK regional commercial property. The Company maintains a disciplined investment strategy focused on towns and cities outside of London that are characterised by thriving local economies and strengthening fundamentals. Within those locations, the highly experienced management team selects assets that provide opportunity to drive both capital value and long-term rental income through tailored active asset management programmes, ultimately delivering attractive shareholder returns.
