Gatehouse Bank Announces Maiden Real Estate Financing Deal

Gatehouse Bank plc (the “Bank”), the London-based Shariah-compliant investment bank, is pleased to announce the closure of its first real estate financing deal. The Bank acted as senior financier in the deal and is providing £11.7m for a luxury residential led development. The property, currently an office building, is being converted into 8 flats and a retail unit. The property is located in Fitzrovia, a vibrant and highly sought-after area of central London.

The receiver of financing is a joint venture between Princeton Property Partners and Resolution Property. They are both experienced, opportunistic development companies, with a strong track record in central London, having completed multiple schemes of this size and nature before.

In addition, the Bank is pleased to announce that it has fully staffed its real estate finance team, with the hiring of Nick Westoby from RBS, Arnaud Schaller from Credit Agricole and Eduardo Martin from Banco Popular Espanol, to support Natale Giostra, the Head of Real Estate Finance at Gatehouse Bank, in building out the Bank’s expertise in real estate finance.

Natale Giostra commented: “We are delighted to have completed our maiden real estate financing deal and believe this deal will be the first of many innovative deals which Gatehouse will finance. At Gatehouse we pride ourselves on the thoroughness of our processes, together with speedy decisions and a commercial attitude to financing. This has enabled us to complete on our first deal within two months, which is something Gatehouse can be very proud of.

I am also pleased to take this opportunity to welcome Nick, Arnaud and Eduardo to our team. They have 30 years of real estate finance experience between them, and I am confident that together we will become a key player in real estate finance.

We are in a strong position to originate attractive financing deals and the team is encouraged by a healthy pipeline of opportunities worth more than £500million.”