Barings has acquired Soapworks, a mixed-use development in Bristol with a gross development value of €256 million ($284 million). Barings has completed the investment on behalf of a retained client and will work with mixed-use developer Socius to deliver the scheme.
Soapworks will create a new district in Bristol city center, five minutes’ walk from both Temple Meads Station, Bristol’s main train station, and the new University of Bristol campus. Set within a new public square, it will comprise two new buildings alongside the restoration of a Grade II–listed former soap factory that dates back to the 1860s.
The scheme has planning consent for 154,000 square feet of flexible office accommodation, which will target a BREEAM “Outstanding” rating and aim for net-zero carbon in operation, as well as 243 build-to-rent (BTR) apartments, 20 percent of which will be for affordable tenures, and 18,800 square feet of flexible ground-floor retail, hospitality and lei
