Butcher & Barlow act for Prime Land on their first commercial acquisition
A collaboration between property investment company Prime Land and Butcher & Barlow has resulted in an exciting nine-apartment development in a prized location on the sea front at Lytham St Annes.
Prime Land, which has purchased the former care home St George’s and secured full planning permission for the nine state-of-the-art two-and-three-bedroom apartments, is now looking to sell the site to a property developer.
The beautiful late Victorian building is located fronting Marine Drive on the corner with Clifton Drive within the affluent Fairhaven and Ansdell area.
It is the first major venture by Prime Land who were launched just over 12 months ago when town and country planning expert Carol Clarke and commercial and residential property investor Anna Wren joined forces.
Carol has a long association working with Butcher & Barlow’s commercial property Partner Daniel Woodcock and called on Jonathan Aldersley, a Partner in the Firm’s corporate department to help Prime Land’s incorporation. Daniel then subsequently advised on the purchase of St George’s, assisted on the commercial elements of the transaction by Tom Newman, an Associate in the Firm’s corporate team.
As Managing Director of Bramhall Town Planning Ltd, Carol has vast experience of advising landowners on strategic measures to increase the value of land and property utilising the planning system.
Anna, the Director of Morgan Curtis Properties Ltd, has built a portfolio that specialises in purchasing run-down HMOs, increasing their values and rental yield through creative re-configuration of the layout and substantial refurbishment.
Anna said:
Myself and Carol met at a networking event and, after getting to know each other over the subsequent 5 year period, we realised with Carol’s strategic approach to the planning system and my analytical skills for appraising sites, we would be well suited to find profitable schemes using our combined expertise.
The focus of Prime Land is on gaining full planning permission for a building’s renovation and then offering the site to developers.
Anna said:
For a developer to buy the property from Prime Land with full planning permission reduces their risk. When you seek finance as a developer on a property without planning permission the lending options are restricted. So, obviously, if the planning permission is in place it opens up a lot more funding options.
As Prime Land moves forward, Anna said the model was to secure options on properties and land and then achieve a suitable planning permission before offering sites for sale to developers.
Prime Land is also keen to invest in similar style buildings to St George’s, as they are often considered to be of interest from a heritage perspective, and councils are keen to reinvigorate them to enhance the cultural aspect of an area.
Anna added:
Our association with Butcher & Barlow has been first class from incorporating the company to the purchase of St George’s. It wasn’t a straightforward sale and there were stumbling blocks along the way, but Daniel and his colleagues overcame all the issues flawlessly.
Daniel said:
The team at Butcher & Barlow has really enjoyed working with Prime Land on this exciting first acquisition. This deal demonstrated Butcher & Barlow’s seamless cross-departmental collaboration between colleagues in our property and corporate teams to deliver all our client’s objectives.
Daniel can be contacted on 01606 334309 or emailed at dwoodcock@butcher-barlow.co.uk.
For more information on Prime Land’s projects, please visit www.prime-land.co.uk
Tom Newman Daniel Woodcock