Gareth Morgan and Jason Jones approached brokers, Cornerstone Commercial Finance, looking to acquire a three-story office building located in Cardiff Gate Business Park.
With the property priced at £900,000, the brokers were tasked with securing funding for Gareth and Jason’s newly formed company, GLJ Properties, within ten weeks. The offices to be purchased were also partially let, and retaining the existing tenants was desired.
After discussing the options available with several funders, Cornerstone proceeded with Recognise Bank after agreeing on favourable terms and its commitment to complete within ten weeks. The team worked closely with Jackie Skelt, Shami Sharma and David Bronsdon at Recognise Bank to secure the clients a £630,000 commercial mortgage on a 20-year term.
With the borrowers fully on-board throughout the process, Cornerstone pulled together all the information required to deliver a completion date only four weeks after the valuation, beating the initial ten-week deadline. Matt Baker’s expertise at Recognise Bank was key in liaising with credit and legal parties on a range of queries on the property and was fundamental to completing this deal ahead of schedule.
With one new tenant secured and the final tenant committed to moving in soon after, the building was fully occupied. A full refurbishment took place in readiness for the new tenants. The completion represented Recognise Bank’s first deal in Wales.
Haydn Thomas, Chief Commercial Officer at Cornerstone Commercial Finance, said: “The deal was an excellent one for our clients. Recognise Bank’s hands-on approach throughout the entire process really impressed us. Our clients were delighted with the outcome.
“It was great to be a part of Recognise Bank’s first deal in Wales, and I have no doubt this will be the first of many as we continue to strengthen our relationship.”
Gareth Morgan, GLJ Properties, commented: “Our experience working with the Cornerstone Commercial Finance team has been incredible. Their wealth of knowledge and experience meant that our offer was accepted at pace and positioned us well with the acting agent, Andrew Gibson, at Avison Young.
“The team worked closely with Recognise Bank, our lawyers, and Andrew Gibson, enabling us to complete on the building promptly. We are thrilled to be the new owners of the property and look forward to supporting the existing and new tenants we are working with.”
James Meigh, Regional Director, Recognise Bank, said: “This was another great milestone for Recognise Bank, our first completed deal in Wales. We were created to support growing businesses, so were delighted to work with the team at Cornerstone to help Gareth and Jason acquire their commercial property so quickly.”
