South London garage transformed into £9.1m mixed-use development

A former MOT garage site and bus depot in South London has been transformed into a new residential and commercial development in a multi-million-pound project.

Property developer Featherstone Homes led the development of the flagship scheme in Streatham, which consists of 30 new homes alongside commercial units.

Previously a collection of single-storey light industrial buildings, the site is now complete with new homes designed for modern day living and finished with modern specification. It comprises a single residential block over two, three and four stories together with an access ramp to a ground floor car park and landscaped podium gardens to the rear.

Rowan Stewart, director at Featherstone Homes, says the development is a ‘strong representation of what Featherstone represents’.

“We aim to develop not only modern but striking homes that demonstrate attention to detail and high-end specification,” he adds. “By fully understanding what our buyers are looking for, our developments exceed modern living demands using the latest design, quality materials and new technologies.”

The project was funded thanks to a £9.1 million loan provided by specialist development finance provider, Shawbrook Bank.

Shawbrook has a track record of supporting small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) property developers with ‘ground up’ finance with its facilities ranging from £1 million to £30 million. Since the inception of Shawbrook’s development finance team, it has successfully provided more than £650 million in finance for projects across the UK.

Stewart continues: “As a specialist lender, Shawbrook provided us with a funding facility to assist with the redevelopment of the site. They were an extremely flexible, responsive and knowledgeable lender, particularly as we attempted to overcome barriers to complete a re-development project in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic.”

Terry Woodley, managing director of development finance at Shawbrook, adds: “From the very beginning, our close relationship with the client ensured that we understood their specific requirements and could provide the funding to complete the development successfully despite market uncertainty, initially in relation to Brexit and then more recently, Covid19.”

“As a specialist development finance provider, our understanding of the market and also of the challenges that SME property developers are facing in this climate allowed us to adopt good sense and judgement to help Featherstone complete an outstanding re-development project in the area.”

He concludes: “With over 70% of unit sales now completed, this development demonstrates that Featherstone Homes is providing modern, well-designed new build apartments in the right locations and with strong demand from buyers and we are delighted to be supporting them.”