OakNorth completes £33m loan for new student housing in Nottingham and Sheffield

OakNorth has completed a £33m deal with Mabec Property, the developer backed by Toscafund and Penta Capital.

Founded in 2009, Mabec’s focus is on residential development and investment in the Midlands, including the student letting market as well as mixed use projects.

Mabec’s directors, Mark Cavell and Mark Elliott, have over 60 years of property experience and have completed almost 35 projects together in the past.

The finance will be used to convert the former Sheffield Star Newspaper Building on York Street into a 259-bedroom student accommodation block, with 211 en-suites and 48 studios.

Mabec’s directors, Mark Cavell and Mark Elliott, said: “With over 50,000 full-time students each, both cities are in desperate need of more purpose-based student housing developments.

“In Nottingham, the situation is particularly dire where this year’s demand from first year student has resulted in people being put into hotels.

“A key reason for us choosing OakNorth was because we needed the transaction to be completed quickly and the team have an excellent understanding of the market and both regions and were prepared to work just as hard as us to get the deal done.”

The site is located within walking distance of the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University, close to the Sheffield Cathedral.

The finance will also be used to convert the former site of Radford Mills on Ilkeston Road into 483 bed spaces for student and young professional housing units. Radford Mills has remained substantially unoccupied for many years.

With Mabec’s help, the aim is to retain the mill as a centre piece to a residential ‘village’ on this 1.5-acre site. The scheme would comprise of 106 cluster beds, 233 studios, 25 one-bedroom flats and 57 two-bedroom flats together with housing units.

The site is located within walking distance of the Jubilee Campus of University of Nottingham and the City Campus of Nottingham Trent University.

Surinder Sidhu, debt finance director at OakNorth, said: “We’re delighted to have supported Mabec on this transaction - the team led by Mark Cavell and Mark Elliott have successfully completed dozens of projects in a relatively short time-frame and continue to expand their portfolio across the UK.”