Dan Whelan
A group of investors has bought the 82-apartment scheme on Chruch Street in Eccles for £1.1m following the collapse of the previous developer Lyceum Manchester, a vehicle owned by Goodwin’s Construction Services Group, which is in administration.
Work on the redevelopment of the town’s former Crown Theatre stopped last year before FRP Advisory was appointed as administrator to both Goodwin’s and the special purpose vehicle in December.
Since then, Mitchell Walsh, director of Liverpool-based Elevace, which was the sales agent for the £15m Lyceum development, has founded the Lyceum Investors Group, a company set up to act in the interests of the scheme’s 27 investors.
Dan Whelan
Cashflow issues stemming from a contract dispute at the end of 2019, compounded by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, resulted in the Manchester-based construction firm appointing FRP Advisory as administrators last month.
The company owes around £2.9m to creditors, according to the administrators’ first report:
£1.3m to suppliers and subcontractors
£700,000 to Barclays
£784,000 to HM Revenue & Customs
The company is expected to realise £360,000 from the sale of assets, the recovery of inter-company debts and the repayment of the director’s loan account, according to the administrator.
Lyceum Manchester, the special purpose vehicle delivering an 82-bedroom apartment scheme in Eccles, was also placed into administration last month owing £30,000 to Goodwin’s.