The Substantia Group strikes deal to develop major masterplan

The Substantia Group has entered into an agreement to develop a masterplan for thousands of new homes and a new university within one hour of London.Phase one of the plan is to agree – with both the local and national governments – on which of the three possible areas to build 3,500 residential units, a state-of-the-art university, retail and hospitality units, including hotels, restaurants and bars, along with the supporting transport and infrastructure modernisation required.Architecture firm Lead8 had been hired to draw up initial proposals while Savills is also on the team behind the project.Phase two is to partner with international developers to obtain detailed planning/zoning permission.The scheme also supports the goals of the Thames Estuary Growth Board, which estimated that 1.3 million jobs could be created along with one million new homes by 2050.Substantia has agreed to invest up to £500,000 during the first phase in return for 37.5 per cent of the project company and to provide a secured loan of up to £7m for phase two.On a successful exit greater than £50, the secured loan would be repaid together with a gain of 250 per cent and the repayment of up to £250,000 for the subscribed preference shares. The Substantia Group is a wholly owned subsidiary of Staminier, a portfolio company of GreenBank Capital.