- Major mainland China financial institution takes up allotment of 70 units of 450-unit Runcorn, Liverpool building
- 6-lane toll bridge drives demand as first beam is installed and completion for the bridge is scheduled for Autumn 2017
- Daniel Mark Harrison, the real estate mogul and 9th generation heir to Britain’s oldest security printing empire laps up demand in Asia-Pacific region for U.K. properties
SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The following is a statement by Daniel Mark Harrison & Co.:
Daniel Mark Harrison & Co. (DMH & Co.), the north of England’s largest property developer by balance sheet, revenue and market share size, has already sold nearly a fifth of its recently-acquired multi-million pound Runcorn, Liverpool-based development. The sales were achieved in a series of pre-launch deals.
The real estate development project, dubbed White House, is set to launch officially next year under DMH & Co.’s Harrison Homes development brand.
The 450-unit development, uniquely located at the cross-section of the 6-lane Mersey Gateway toll bridge that lies between Manchester and Liverpool, has found favor with institutional and private investors so far in Singapore, Macau and mainland China.
A major Chinese financial institution has reserved a preliminary allotment of 20 studio and 1-bedroom units at a gross development value of 1.5 million pounds with an option for a further 50 units. An underwriting syndicate in Singapore has taken up an additional 1.2 million pounds of units while others have been snapped up by a further 4 private investors in multiple unit purchases.
6-Lane Toll Bridge Makes Runcorn Latest buy-to-let “hotspot”
“The construction of the Mersey Gateway toll bridge getting underway earlier this month ahead of schedule has been a huge attraction for value-hungry Asian investors,” said Sam Chua, operations director for DMH & Co. “It’s becoming clear that us buying this building earlier in the year has proved an extremely shrewd investment, and the market is starting to pick up on some of that.”
On December 14, the first of 150 giant concrete beams was lifted into place for the Mersey Gateway Project at the Bridgewater junction in Runcorn, where the new Astmoor Bridgewater viaduct is being built over the Bridgewater canal. Two elevated slip roads are also under construction.
The junction will form a key part of the new 9.2km link road, diverting traffic across the new Mersey Gateway Bridge to relieve congestion on the ageing Silver Jubilee Bridge, cutting the commute from Manchester to Liverpool by as much as half. The toll way, which will be completed in Autumn 2017, has sent property prices in Runcorn soaring as both local and foreign investors are scrambling to get in on buy-to-let rental accommodation in the area.
“With two other developments under way now in the same town, Runcorn has gone from being a best-kept-secret to an investment hotspot,” said Daniel Mark Harrison, founder and CEO of DMH & Co. “It’s massively exciting and now DMH & Co. has proven to be ahead of the pack by getting the first portion of institutional investment on the local development scene in place.”
SGD $110m Absolute Living Developments Takeover Underway
In November, DMH & Co. purchased the White House from Absolute Living Developments (ALD) in a private equity deal for an undisclosed sum. Further to that purchase, DMH & Co. announced that it had agreed to take over the business activities of the Liverpool-based developer in a deal worth SGD $110 million. The development firm has six property developments in Britain’s Northern Powerhouse cities, including Manchester, Stockport and Bradford.
“We are starting to make substantial progress with many of the stakeholders in ALD’s development portfolio. As the North of England’s largest residential property developer headquartered in a Tier-1 Asian city, we’re in a unique position to help ALD grow and everyone prosper over the long term,” said Mr. Harrison.
“There are so many fly-by-night development firms in this industry right now with no Asia-based presence. Asian financial institutions look at us and see that basically, we are not going anywhere. That counts for a tremendous amount in this part of the world,” added Mr. Harrison.
For more information contact Sam Chua, Operations Director for DMH & Co. at sc@dmh.co or +65-6559-5363.
About Daniel Mark Harrison & Co. Pte. Ltd.
Daniel Mark Harrison & Co. (DMH & Co.) is the North of England’s largest property development company based in Singapore and Manchester with over SGD $150 million of real estate assets and sales of SGD $40 million per year. The company’s Manchester-based Orchid Point developments are the fastest-selling properties in the North of England and are yielding 8% annual returns. DMH & Co.’s founder, Daniel Mark Harrison, is the oldest of 9 generations of the founding family of Europe’s oldest security printers, Harrison & Sons Ltd., founded in 1750 and sold to De La Rue PLC in 1997.
