A huge development in Bristol that will see the city’s old Soapworks factory restored has been acquired.
Real estate investment manager Barings made the investment in the scheme, which has a gross development value of £215m, and will deliver it in partnership with developer Socius, which secured planning permission for the site.
The Soapworks project will comprise two new buildings alongside the restoration of the Grade II-listed former soap factory that dates back to the 1860s. According to Barings, it is planning to retain as much of the original building as possible.
The scheme has planning consent for 154,000 sq ft of flexible office space as well as 243 build-to-rent apartments, 20% of which will be affordable homes, and 18,800 sq ft of ground-floor retail, hospitality and leisure space.
The workspace will be divided into 18,000 sq ft in the existing Grade II-listed building and 136,000 sq ft in a new building.
According to Barings, the proposed development is expected to deliver up to £200m of social value, an additional 513 new net additional full-time equivalent jobs within the Bristol economy, and £35m per year of gross value added (GVA).
"Already a landmark in Bristol, Soapworks will be an iconic place to live and work in the city," said Darren Hutchinson, managing director and head of UK real estate transactions at Barings.
"Due to the quality of this space, it will not only be a landmark within Bristol but be an example of excellent place-making across the UK."
Ben Pile, head of European residential investing and asset management at Barings said the Soapworks was "well positioned" to become one of Bristol's "most desirable" districts.
"Given Bristol's desirability as a place to live, its sizeable student population and its undersupply of top-quality office accommodation, we anticipate demand for both homes with high levels of amenity and best in class net zero workplaces continuing to grow significantly," he said.
Barry Jessup, managing director at Socius, added: "This is a vital step forward for Soapworks and we're looking forward now to pressing ahead with the project and getting on site in the next few months."
Colliers and Ashurst acted for Barings, and Savills and DWF acted for the vendor.
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