OakNorth completes £19m development loan to The Zamek Group

By Bridging Loan Directory 31st January 2018

OakNorth – the bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs – has completed a debt finance deal of £19m to Zamek Group, the privately-owned property investment, development and trading company founded by Nir Zamek in 1994.

The loan will be used to convert Brenchley House (123-135 Week Street, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1RF), a seven-story office building, into a mixed-use space with 192 residential units – 139 studios and 53 one-bedroom flats – and retail on the ground floor. When Mr Zamek bought the site, there was permission to develop 84 flats, but he has since secured council consent to increase it to 192, and expects the project to complete this summer. The property is just 40 miles from London, and located minutes from Maidstone East station, providing direct access to London’s Victoria Station in an hour.

Commenting on the deal, Nir Zamek, founder of The Zamek Group, said:

“Since our founding 24 years ago, our strategy has been to build a portfolio of well-located and well managed residential units, and let them to a broad range of tenants, including students, young professionals and families. Maidstone is a large, historically important town which due to its proximity to London, is a favourite amongst these demographics. It is also popular with small and medium-sized business owners, particularly law and accountancy firms, and media companies.

“We found the experience with OakNorth very refreshing – we enjoyed meeting the Credit Committee and it was clear that OakNorth and Brotherton have worked together before from the seamless communication between the two parties.”

Surinder Sidhu, Debt Finance Director at OakNorth, commented:

“The 2021 Strategic Development Plan for Maidstone seeks to set out a vison and programme of projects to develop and improve the town centre including enhancing retail, leisure and business. Developers such as The Zamek Group are playing a vital role in this, helping to preserve the town’s unique history, whilst also bringing some much-needed new homes to the area. It was great to once again work with Brotherton on this transaction – they take a similar approach to us, reacting quickly and working collaboratively with the borrower.”