CBRE reappointed on South Yorkshire Jessica Fund

Following a competitive tender, the firm’s investment advisory team has been retained to manage the programme for another 10 years.

CBRE has managed the SY Jessica Fund since its inception in 2013.

Jessica funds came forward as an EU initiative, as a new way to support urban regeneration – standing for Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas.

To date, the South Yorkshire fund has invested more than £70m and levered in more than £300m of construction investment, built out 1.3m sq ft of floorspace accommodating over 6,500 jobs and is increasingly supporting more energy efficient developments, CBRE said.

The fund was set up to provide effective development debt funding for commercial property and regeneration projects with the core objectives of enabling economic growth through sustainable development, enhancing long-term growth prospects of the region, providing the infrastructure required to generate jobs and facilitating the development of brownfield sites.

Will Church, executive director, investment advisory at CBRE, said: “We are delighted to have been reappointed by the Fund and are looking forward to seeing what we can deliver on behalf of the Fund over the next ten years.

“We have a number of developments in the pipeline that we are looking to bring forward across the whole of South Yorkshire and will be expanding the parameters of the Fund to consider mixed-use developments in addition to core commercial opportunities.”

The appointment caps a good month for CBRE’s investment business, which has this month secured another prize piece of public sector work, taking over from Avison Young on the £840m Greater Manchester Property Venture Fund.

Colin Blackburn, assistant director at the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, added: “The SY Jessica Fund has proven to be a vital source of funding in an otherwise constrained regional market, bringing forward valuable employment space and infrastructure projects that other sources haven’t been able or willing to support.

“We have close to £32m of debt funding available to invest in new real estate projects and are looking forward to embarking on the next stage of the Fund’s journey.”

Shoosmiths is the retained legal advisor to the SY Jessica Fund.