After completing high school, Aneel Mussarat engaged in collecting rent and managing properties that his family owned. Despite having bitter experiences with tenants, Aneel found interest in this sector and decided to engage completely in the property business. Aneel started to buy,renovate and rent out properties in Manchester. That were within the range of £10,000. Aneel worked dedicatedly in his “buy to let” business and found massive success as time passed.

Aneel developed important contacts with the stakeholders of his business. His hardwork and commitment earned him good name and reputation and with his Business relations. Aneel moved up the ladder with time and started managing, constructing, renting out properties through a Private Limited Company named as “Classic Homes”. Aneel’s interest developed further with success and he continued to expand his business further into residential and from residential to commercial sector. Aneel also specialised in student residences in Manchester and the most famous of the project known as “Student Village”. He is also famous by the title of “Student Housing Magnate”.

MCR Property

In 2006 Aneel merged the residential and commercial businesses into one large group formed to be known as MCR Property Group. MCR now holds a portfolio of in excess of £1,ooo million of which £300 million is the end value of current developments. The Group’s combined holdings place it amongst the largest property groups in the North-West England along with Peel Holdings and Bruntwood. The Group’s commercial holdings return is very competitive and is a major success.It is also expanding outside Manchester with sections of properties in Central London, student accommodations in Liverpool and investment properties in Dubai, Europe and the USA.

Group success

The goodwill of the group is very high. The Group has already achieved its target of £1 billion before the due date. The group now has set a target of £5 billion for 2020 and is well on the way. The group is one of the best asset management, asset investment companies in the UK.

Interests and Critics

Aneel is also a producer of Bollywood movies. He has also supposedly financed the APC (All Parties Conference) in Manchester hosted by Nawaz Sharif former Pakistani Prime Minister which involved bringing all political parties of Pakistan on one platform.

People close to him say he is kind hearted and caring. He likes people who want to work hard in life the way he spends his life.

He is mostly a private person but is sometimes seen in different social gatherings such as Film awards, movie openings and political receptions. He does like to socialise with close family and friends. His interests involve movies, family and travel.

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mcrproperty.com – Aneel Mussarat

Aneel Mussarat has been successfully buying, renovating and developing property since the early 1990s.

Aneel Mussarat started the business at the age of 17; purchasing small terraced houses in Manchester that he would renovate and either let or trade.

The Group has grown substantially from a modest developer of terraced houses in Manchester to a national property company with in excess of £1bn gross assets. This substantial growth is a direct result of the dynamic and ambitious foresight of the founder and is a testament to Aneel’s commitment to the business and personal resolve.

Mussarat, 38, is picking up bargains. The Manchester developer bought a portfolio of office and industrial sites for £33m in March. They were on the market last year for £38m. His parent company, MCR Property Group, has a £500m portfolio.

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Mussarat’s Mancunian mandate – Aneel Mussarat

propertyweek.com

Heather Greig-Smith hears how residential tycoon Aneel Mussarat added commercial to his £400m portfolio.

Aneel Mussarat has none of the airs and graces you might expect from the owner

of a £400m property portfolio. He is hugely apologetic for arriving 10 minutes late

and refreshingly open about his financing, developments and plans for the future.

Yesterday Mussarat relaunched his

companies under the name MCR Property Group, bringing together residential and commercial portfolios. The MCR brand has absorbed previous names such as Classic Homes and Towergate, although some developments will operate as separate vehicles.

Aneel Mussarat wants the portfolio to reach £1bn by the end of the decade. It now sits at £400m, and developments estimated to be worth a further £250m will be completed by 2008.

It is an ambitious target, but in the last six months Mussarat has been on the acquisitions trail, expanding his team and buying high-profile commercial properties such as 12-14 Piccadilly, Wellington House and 9 Portland Street in Manchester city centre and the 155,000 sq ft (14,415 sq m) Hyde Shopping Centre, Tameside.

Those who have worked with Mussarat say

he never stops working and makes calls at all hours of the day. Others describe him as a ‘man of mystery’, but one who is starting to appear on the market’s radar.

Mark Hayes, former head of investment

at Colliers CRE, has joined Mussarat and is handling most acquisitions. Andy Phillips,

who joined from Savills, is working on the management side.

One MCR scheme that is set to become high profile is 12-14 Piccadilly. Mussarat recently bought the old Barclays bank building, as well as neighbouring vacant land, for more than £2.5m. He is now in negotiations to buy another building behind the site.

MCR plans to develop a tower of at least 14 storeys (see box, overleaf). The scheme is close to other planned tower developments and Mussarat says he is in discussions with the city council, which is supportive of the idea.

Aneel Mussarat’s seemingly sudden rise to prominence hides long years of experience. He has been a prolific private investor since the late 1980s. When he left school at 16 he started refurbishing residential properties, trading under his own name and then using ‘Classic Homes’ from 1991. He also refurbished properties to sell to housing associations.

This grew to include new-build developments, and about six years ago Mussarat started to dabble in small commercial premises. Then in 2003 he bought student halls at Manchester Student Village housing 1,000 students. He has another 360 student units on Wilmslow Road in Manchester and has just agreed heads of terms on halls in Liverpool.

high finance

‘It’s been a gradual progression really. In 2000 we were worth £125m. By the end of the decade we want to touch the £1bn mark, and we do feel we’re on course to do that,’ he says.

Mussarat is candid about his financial arrangements. He has relationships with Barclays, Bank of Ireland, Nationwide, Bank

of Scotland, Anglo Irish and HSBC.

“We like retail a lot. Retailers want to keep expanding and people need somewhere to shop
”

Aneel Mussarat

‘We wouldn’t have been able to expand this way without a good relationship with the banks,’ says Mussarat. He is especially complimentary about Nationwide, which he says has supported him ‘to the tune of £200m’. He adds: ‘We can borrow money at very competitive rates – around 1% above LIBOR for investment and 1.25% for development.’

He is keen to find more property. MCR invited more than 400 people to yesterday’s lavish launch in Manchester. ‘Hopefully it will raise our profile. We’re making a conscious effort to do that so people so people think of us as buyers before they think of others,’ he says.

As far as the Manchester commercial property market is concerned, Mussarat has appeared from nowhere and is buying aggressively, leading some to question whether he

can now deliver the development and refurbishment required.

Michael Hawkins, partner at WHR, says Mussarat is building a good team. ‘It is well known that he has bought very aggressively. The Key now is for Aneel to implement the plans necessary to drive the portfolio forward and retain tenants who are subject to flexible leases in a sophisticated office market,’ he says.

we are family

Property for Mussarat is a family affair. His brother, Nabeel Chowdery, is also a property investor and the two have done business together in the past. In July Chowdery sold

the Island Site in Manchester to Reflect Developments for £15m, after buying Mussarat’s share six months earlier.

They recently planned to buy Star City in Birmingham, for around £90m, with Mussarat as the sleeping partner, but have decided they are uncomfortable with elements of the lease. ‘We’re walking away because of title issues we weren’t comfortable with,’ he says. The scheme is now under offer to REIT Asset Management.

Mussarat and his brother are now looking

at development opportunities in London together. ‘Family dinners can be fun,’ he

jokes. Chowdery is friends with boxer Amir

Khan and the brothers can usually be found in the front row at his fights.

MCR is keen to purchase more retail schemes and is looking at buying a shopping centre in Bristol. In August it bought new-build scheme Huyton Shopping Centre from Development Securities for £24m, and it owns about 60 individual shops across the north-west.

‘We like retail a lot. Retailers want to keep expanding and people need somewhere to shop,’ he says. ‘I don’t think the internet will take over. People need recreation.’

However, MCR is also looking at an industrial portfolio in Liverpool, which is 500,000 sq ft (46,500 sq m) on a 24 acre (9.7 ha) site and would not need much refurbishment. Over the next 18 months the company will dispose of many of the smaller properties Mussarat has acquired over the years. Aneel Mussarat

‘Rather than having 100 houses scattered over an area we’d rather have a cluster of them,’ he says.

At the moment the portfolio is mainly located in the north between Carlisle and Birmingham, but recently Mussarat has been looking further south. He is good at taking chances, reputedly buying £30m of residential property from troubled Jarvis one Christmas Eve. He hopes to open an office in the capital in the near future.

‘In the next 12 to 18 months we’d like to open an office in London and we’re trying to recruit a surveyor,’ says Mussarat. ‘We’d like to have a bit of the action down there.’

While MCR is picking up more and more commercial property, there is no move to abandon the residential core of the business. ‘Residential is still 75%-80% of the business,’ says Mussarat. ‘I think it will remain strongest. I’ve been doing it for 17 years.’

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Mussarat move – Aneel Mussarat

David Thame – manchestereveningnews.co.uk

May 30, 2006
STUDENT-housing magnate Aneel Mussarat has made a ’43m move into commercial property.

Mr Mussarat, who operates under the Classic Homes banner, has been well known in the south Manchester and student housing markets but has now bought a series of city centre office blocks in deals valued at ’13m.

His companies are also reported to have bought Hyde shopping centre from Boultbee Properties for around ’30m.

Mr Mussarat has lured investment director Mark Hayes from Manchester agency Colliers CRE to head his investment and development portfolio. The new business will be re-branded as the MCR Property Group.

The latest deals have seen Mr Mussarat’s empire acquire the former GMPTE offices at 9 Portland Street for around ‘5m.

The 60,000 sq ft block is likely to be refurbished and could have a value on completion of as much as ’22m.

Piccadilly

The company acquired Wellington House – a 21,200 sq ft office building, located in the heart of Piccadilly – for in excess of ‘5m.

In a separate move it acquired an 11,500 sq ft building next to the Malmaison Hotel, Piccadilly, paying ‘2.5m to owners Barclays.

Mr Mussarat plans to extend the 155,000 sq ft Hyde shopping centre by 100,000 sq ft, which would dramatically increase its value.

Mr Mussarat’s publicists say that he now controls a property empire with a ‘350m portfolio.

His various property companies – including Tower Gate Developments and Manchester Student Village – will be consolidated into one property business as MCR Property Group.

Mr Hayes explained: “Over the next two to three years we are looking to acquire in the region of ‘400m worth of commercial property investment and development throughout the North West.”

“Classic Homes is a very dynamic property company and I am delighted to be involved with this rapidly developing business.

“It has a strong desire to grow and as it continues to go from strength to strength I am looking forward to the exciting challenges that this opportunity will present.”

Mr Mussarat, 37, founded the Classic Homes business in 1989. MCR Property Group has yet to file accounts. Towergate Developments has net assets of ‘2.7m according to figures for the year to March 31, 2005.

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Developer aims flats at NHS staff and academics – Aneel Mussarat

crainsmanchesterbusiness.co.uk

MCR Property Group branches out from student housing schemes along Oxford Road corridor
By Simon Binns

MCR Property Group Ltd, the Manchester property developer led by managing director Aneel Mussarat, is planning a luxury residential scheme near the city’s busy university and hospital district.

The Rusholme-based company is about to begin construction on a block of 55 two-bedroom apartments on Grafton Street, off Oxford Road, opposite the Manchester Royal Infirmary entrance gates. The building will have retail space on the ground floor.

Mussarat told Crain’s he felt the location would appeal to hospital staff or academics wanting to be near their workplace and the city centre.

“It will be a high-end development and we think it is a good strategic location,” he said. “That part of the city, around the Oxford Road corridor, has been very good to us and we would be keen to do more in that area — although there isn’t much land left to develop now. We’ve gradually put together the site since 2000 and now we are ready to begin work.” Aneel Mussarat

Mussarat had feared it would take a long time to assemble the site, previously a row of shops in a number of ownerships, but the process was speeded up when the university approached him to acquire a site MCR owned elsewhere.

He agreed, on condition that a university-owned piece of the Grafton Street site was included in part-exchange.

Previously MCR has developed only student housing in the Oxford Road corridor — along with Manchester-based Opal Property Group Ltd it is responsible for many of the 3,000 or so flats in the area. The latest development is a sign of how the area has improved, said Mussarat, who said he was pleased with the ongoing regeneration of the Oxford Road corridor, being carried out by the City South Partnership under the guidance of Manchester City Council.

He said: “The city council has done a fantastic job so far and we think Oxford Road will only improve more as a location in the future.”

MCR has also just completed a development of 130 student apartments on the corner of nearby Hathersage Road and Daisy Bank Road, in Rusholme.

‘Watch this space’

The scheme lies just behind the Victoria Baths, where a publicly-funded restoration project got under way but then stalled because of financial problems. Mussarat said he believed Victoria Baths would be ideal for conversion into a leisure club. Asked if he would consider making an offer for the building in order to complete the revamp, he simply replied: “Watch this space.”

MCR has nearly 600 student flats near the universities and student accommodation represents a significant percentage of the firm’s overall revenue.

“The asset value of the business is 65 per cent from residential development and student accommodation makes up around 25 per cent of that, so it’s a very important and very good market for us,” he said. “There are nearly 3,000 students beds in and around the Oxford Road area and filling them year on year doesn’t seem to be a problem. Voids are short and defaults are inexpensive, compared to commercial units, so it is a market that really works well. There is always the scope to put rents up too, although only in line with inflation at the moment.”

Jackie Potter, chief executive of the City South Partnership, said it was encouraging to see private schemes being built in and around Oxford Road.

“We’re pleased to see development happening. There are several positive schemes in the pipeline for Oxford Road, of which this is one,” she said. “The idea of having more student use and accommodation in that area will add to its vibrancy and provide opportunities for more commercial developments. Aneel Mussarat

“Parts of our plans are improving the retail and food and drink offering and a greater population will encourage that.”

MCR is also planning a development of 72 apartments and houses off Rochdale Road in Harpurhey and is finalising a decision on how best to progress the proposed missed-use scheme at 1 Water Street, off Regent Road, formerly the site of a Harry Ramsden’s restaurant.

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Aneel’s £10.75 Mersery move – Aneel Mussarat

manchestereveningnews.co.uk

ANEEL MUSSARAT’S property empire is expanding into Liverpool after a £10.75m deal.

MCR Property Group has bought a mixed office and retail building at 2 Moorfields in the heart of Liverpool’s financial district. It paid £10.75m in a deal with British Land.

The buy, MCR’s first in the city, sees it take control of a 63,000 sq ft block, with tenants including Norwich Union, Yorkshire Bank and the Department of Health.

Mark Hayes, investment director at MCR, said: “We have been looking to gain a foothold in the Liverpool market for some time. This represented an opportunity to acquire a quality building in the central business district of Liverpool, multi-let to predominantly institutional-grade tenants. The building offers a number of interesting asset management initiatives, which we will be looking to trigger immediately.

“We see this as a long-term investment, and we will be looking to upgrade accommodation and common parts over the next few years, which will enable us to move rents forward.”

The firm says the purchase will be the first of many in the city, although it will not say how much it plans to invest in Merseyside.

MCR’s Mark Hayes said: “Whilst I cannot provide a figure, we would be delighted to invest further sums in Liverpool on a deal-by-deal basis.”

DDM Partners acted on behalf of MCR Property Group, and CBRE represented British Land.

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