Comely Green Place, Edinburgh

Graham + Sibbald were instructed to undertake valuations for Amicus Property Finance throughout the duration of a refurbishment project at Comely Green Place, Edinburgh, in order to allow drawdown of funds by the developer.

The property started as a derelict retail unit and was transformed into three well finished dwelling flats, at both ground and lower ground floor level.

Graham + Sibbald’s in-house valuation teams, were able to advise in terms of both the commercial and residential aspects of this transformation project, given their extensive local property knowledge.

Approach

Residual valuations were undertaken throughout the project by the commercial valuation team, with added input from both the residential and building surveying teams to ascertain an accurate reflection of anticipated exit values, together with proposed construction costs for the project.

Key Challenges

Timeous reporting was required in order to allow the project to progress. Residual valuations were undertaken throughout the term of the development, with the G+S commercial valuation team having to liaise with the contractor and clients whilst endeavoring to reflect values against works undertaken/outstanding.

Unique Issues

Ensuring that all parties involved were regularly and accurately updated throughout the course of the project was key to ensuring that works were progressing smoothly and within a timely manner. Any issues were dealt with promptly and suitably in order to keep the project within a six-month timescale.

Results

The project progressed more or less in line with what would be expected, despite the funder experiencing difficulties during the project.

Whilst a number of ongoing projects failed to retain funding during this period, the subjects did receive support, in part due to the quality of reports provided during the development. This enabled the developers to continue in line with their original timeframe to completion in April 2019.

Following a brief marketing exercise by Messrs Rettie & Co., all three flats were sold, just prior to the completion of the building works.

The property was originally purchased in the sum of £220k and sold for a combined value of £805k.

The construction was completed at the original fixed quote of £255k, providing a healthy profit for the developers.

Key Message

Good communication, timely production of clearly reasoned reports, prompt response to any issues that arose.