Westbourne plans to develop 250,000 sq ft next to Lord’s Cricket Ground in St John’s Wood into more than 200 new care units. The proposed development will be split into two blocks – the West Block will have 89 extra care units along with associated medical facilities, while the East Block will be a bespoke care home facility.
At the end of last year Westbourne Capital Partners secured a £46m financing facility from Investec to buy the two-acre site
The latest £38.4m funding has come from OakNorth, which describes itself as ‘the bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs’.
Westbourne co-founders Johnny Sandelson and David Meagher said: “The retirement housing sector currently comprises of 725,000 homes which equates to c.2.6% of the total housing stock in the UK. However, with 20% of the UK population expected to be over 65 within the next seven years, the country is in desperate need of more care units. We are presently looking for new opportunities to build care homes in [London’s] zones 1 and 3.”
OakNorth property finance director Hemesh Patel said: “In just five years, Johnny and David have assembled a portfolio with a GDV in excess of £3.5bn, which is pretty incredible. We’re delighted to be working with such an ambitious and fast-growing business and wish the team the best of luck in their application for planning permission.”
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