A Manchester-based developer has opened a London office in a bid to generate interest and attract more investors to the region. Real Estate Developments (RED) will also use its new branch to target deals in the capital.
“A lot of the bigger funding comes out of London and they’re happy to look at Manchester as a development opportunity, but you’ve got to be in London if you want to be a serious player,” said RED’s founder Damian Flood. Although it specialises in working in partnership with other developers on mixed-use schemes, his company also has an active investment business.
Real Estate Investment Partnerships has £90m of assets under management. In recent years it jointly acquired Jewel House, a residential block in Manchester’s Northern Quarter with Crewe-based car dealer Swansway and a mixed use development in Burnley with Jersey-based investment company Annatex.
Real Estate Developments has a long-term relationship with Peveril Securities, a subsidiary of the Derbyshire construction firm Bowmer & Kirkland. At the moment the pair are co-operating on several schemes including a 30,000sq ft Tesco store in Little Lever, Bolton, and a supermarket scheme in Darwen. Part of the Lancashire project also involves a new research centre for products manufacturer Lucite.
As well as developing a retail park near Chester-le-Street in the North-East, RED has just completed the conversion of Howard Town Mill in Glossop into shops and apartments and is working on a mixed use scheme in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester.
Damian Flood is the nephew of Brendan Flood, the founding managing director of Manchester’s Modus Properties which specialised in commercial investment and shopping mall development. In 2009 the development arm of Modus fell victim to the banking crisis while its investment division survived as a rebranded Spectrum Investment Management.
Flood is just one of a number of ex-Modus executives who set up on their own after the Salford developer’s collapsed. Others include Tim Heatley, co-founder of commercial developer Capital & Centric, and Mike Ralph and Anthony Kilbride who are now working with former Manchester United and England defender Gary Neville at investment vehicle Zerum.
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