The global developer re-enters UK market to address growing demand for sustainable office and Build-to-Rent developments with launch of a fully permitted ESG-focused office development in Parsons Green

Boston, MA and London, United Kingdom – August X, 2022 – Taurus Investment Holdings, LLC, has announced today that it has incorporated Taurus RE Investments Limited (Taurus UK), with UK partner Nick Jacobs, CEO of Rowan Strategic Asset Management Ltd (Rowan), to grow their operations across the United Kingdom.

Currently, Taurus UK has an active pipeline of investment opportunities with the intent to invest up to £50 million of equity in 2022, starting with the acquisition of a fully permitted ESG-focused office development in Parsons Green, located in the highly desirable London Borough of Hammersmith and Fullham. The Project will be a sustainable development incorporating energy efficient measures that target significantly reduced carbon emissions, including the use of cross-laminated timber, air-source heat pumps and solar PV panels. Additionally, the development is anticipated to outperform the London Plan, which requires developments to achieve a 35% reduction from the 2013 baseline of Building Regulations Compliant Development.

Taurus UK will back developers with equity on a joint venture basis targeting London and other major UK cities, while focusing on well-balanced risk-reward transactions across a variety of sectors, with a particular emphasis on office and the growing Build-to-Rent (BTR) market, which is seeing an increased demand from consumers looking to rent, as well as institutions looking to invest. In October 2021, Taurus in a partnership with Cole WaterHouse, acquired Anchorage Gateway in Greater Manchester, a 290-unit Build-to-Rent (BTR), marking Taurus’ re-entry into the UK. The acquisition in Manchester was completed nearly 5 years after a highly successful redevelopment and exit of the Taurus Aldwych House project. Aldwych House was a complex repositioning of an office building to a London Midtown trophy asset. The property was purchased for £83M in 2011 and sold in 2017 for £250M.

“Taurus UK is a natural expansion of our activity and presents us with a unique opportunity to bring our in-house sustainable expertise to developments in the UK. We see the growth potential in the UK, and the opportunities go hand in hand with what we focus on in the U.S.” said Peter A. Merrigan, CEO of Taurus Investment Holdings. “With our deep experience in the application of clean energy technologies and access to leading partners and commercial structures for sustainable building, we’ll be targeting opportunities to implement our strategies across the entire UK, particularly in the BTR space.”

Nick Jacobs comes on board as Executive Managing Director of Taurus UK. Through Nick’s comprehensive real estate and development experience, in-depth industry knowledge and longstanding relations he will be responsible for building out the team and oversee the growth of Taurus UK. As the owner of Rowan, Nick and his firm have partnered with Taurus since 2011. Rowan has been in operation since 1997 and has completed approximately £1.25 billion of real estate transactions.  Nick is a Chartered Surveyor and has served as Chairman of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors – London Branch.

“Our partnership with Taurus allows us to scale up our activity and work with some of the best developers and teams across the globe, said Nick Jacobs. “All of our activity is based around the well-established Taurus investment thesis of developing strategies that target properties (or sectors) that can be acquired at attractive values relative to replacement cost, with an ability to enhance cash flows through renovation and development. We will prefer opportunities which have sustainable and truly green credentials. We believe that such investment is essential for the medium long-term preservation of value. We also believe that it is our duty to invest with ESG factors as a key part of our strategies.”

Merrigan added, “As we position ourselves to be a major player in the UK market and meet the country’s growing demand for value-add development opportunities, I’m confident in Nick’s ability to lead the UK team and enable us to further develop investor and developer relationships in the market.”