PIC forward funds £200 million Birmingham Build to Rent skyscraper

3 November 2022

Pension Insurance Corporation plc (‘PIC’), a specialist insurer of defined benefit pension funds, has forward funded One Eastside, which will be the tallest Build to Rent tower outside of London, standing at 154 meters tall. The £200 million investment will finance the construction of 667 residential apartments in central Birmingham on an existing brownfield site. One Eastside will be developed by specialist residential developer Court Collaboration.

One Eastside will create over 300 new jobs, with plans for the creation of a student academy. This is intended to provide opportunity for hundreds of local students, including work placements and on-site course opportunities and experience, with the aim of improving their future employment prospects.

Key features of the project:

• the scheme has been purpose designed for Build to Rent
• 667 generously sized apartments across two towers (16 and 51 storeys)
• over 23,000 sq ft of amenity space (featuring residents only landscaped gardens state of the art gym, sky lounge, games room, co-working space and pet spa)
• located adjacent to the Curzon Street HS2 station, currently under construction
• significant social benefit and highest standards of building safety.

Delphine Deasy, Head of Build to Rent at PIC, said: “PIC is a significant and purposeful investor in the UK’s infrastructure and housing, and I am delighted that we have now acquired our fourth Build to Rent project, investing £200 million into central Birmingham.

“The 667 apartments development will have a positive effect on the local economy, including creating hundreds of new job opportunities and supporting the training of local students. At the same time, it will provide long-term, secure cashflows to back our policyholders’ pension payments in the decades ahead. We are actively engaged on a number of similar opportunities across the UK and have a strong pipeline going into 2023.”

“We look forward to continuing working in partnership with Court Collaboration, a highly experienced developer, on this best in class scheme.”

Anthony McCourt, Founder and CEO of Court Collaboration, said: “This £200 million investment by Pension Insurance Corporation confirms that confidence in the Build to Rent sector continues to grow in Birmingham. One Eastside will see Court Collaboration leading the way in the West Midlands Build to Rent market with this landmark development being the jewel in the crown of the city’s Build to Rent offering. Once completed, One Eastside will provide a new benchmark for quality.”

Councillor Ian Ward, Birmingham City Council Leader, said: “I’ve said for some time now that this is a golden decade of opportunity for Birmingham and this agreement is the latest major boost to our growing reputation as a city that is, quite literally, on the up. At 51 storeys high, this will be the region’s tallest Build to Rent structure and huge credit must go to our home-grown SME, Court Collaboration, for attracting high calibre investors and partners like PIC and Sir Tony Gallagher to the city. Birmingham is a bold and exciting international city and I look forward to seeing this exciting project take its place on our constantly evolving skyline.”

PIC was advised by Addleshaw Goddard, HAALO, Savills and WSP.

Source: Pension Insurance Corporation