ING and DBS have jointly underwritten a £1.016bn (€1.19bn) development loan for the refurbishment of One Spitalfields, marking one of the largest office financing transactions completed in London in recent years.
The financing, arranged for institutional investors advised by J.P. Morgan Asset Management, will fund the transformation of the 11-storey mixed-use estate at 1–10 Bishops Square in the City of London.
Rather than demolishing the existing asset, the project will retain the building’s structural frame while upgrading it to deliver more than 700,000sqft of prime office accommodation alongside retail space.
The transaction highlights a broader trend across European real estate lending, where banks and alternative lenders are increasingly backing large-scale developments and refurbishment projects tied to strong occupier demand and sustainability objectives.
Among the largest deals completed this week was a €550m refinancing for Warsaw’s Varso Place from a club of six banks, while UniCredit, Berlin Hyp and BayernLB provided €340m for Bayerische Hausbau’s Arabella redevelopment in Munich.
| Recently completed deals | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asset | Asset type | Location | Buyer | Vendor | Size | Price (mln) | Key facts |
| Metrocentre | retail | Gateshead, UK | Landsec | Tynehawk Holdings | 1.86 million sqft | £516 (€605) | The acquisition is expected to be funded through an equity issue and existing debt facilities. |
| 123 Victoria Street | office | London | Seven Capital PLC | Landsec | 245,000sqft | £211 (€247) | The office block was built in the 1970s and last refurbished in 2012. |
| residential property portfolio | living | the Netherlands | Lone Star Funds on behalf of the fixed-term institutional fund Panta Rhei Dutch Residential (PDR) | Catella | 62,739m2 | €215 | The portfolio comprises 13 assets across the Netherlands, including 923 residential units, eight commercial units and 505 parking spaces. |
| 10-asset logistics portfolio | logistics | Finland | Catena | Urban Partners | 142,300m2 | €191 | A majority of the assets are located in the Helsinki-Tampere-Turku triangle. |
| four logistics properties | logistics | Poland | Unnamed US investor | Hillwood | 200,000m2 | €150 | The portfolio includes Hillwood Łódź Górna, Hillwood Wrocław City I, Hillwood Wrocław City II and Hillwood Bieruń, covering Central Poland, Wrocław and Upper Silesia. |
| 27 Savile Row | office | London | BNF Capital and Morgan Real Estate | Cpi Property Group | 47,000sqft | £100 (€117) | The asset has planning consent for a 47,000 sq ft office-led redevelopment designed by PLP. |
| second phase of H2Offices | office | Budapest | ERSTE Open-Ended Real Estate Investment Fund | Skanska | 22,000m2 | €98 | The building is currently under construction and is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2027. |
| cross-dock logistics asset | logistics | Stockholm | Logistea | DSV | 54,000m2 | €84 | The properties are fully leased to DSV Road AB with a remaining lease term for each asset of 10 years. |
| King’s Place project | living | London | Far East Orchard | Unite | 444-beds | £60 (€70) | Construction delivery is scheduled for completion in 2029. |
| two logistics assets | logistics | Antwerp, Frankfurt | Montea | Vanguard Logistics | 61,000m2 | €68 | The deal reflects an average net initial yield (NIY) of more than 6.5% . |
| cross-dock logistics asset | logistics | Hanover, Germany | Barings | NA | 58,000m2 | €39 | The asset is let on a strong covenant and benefits from embedded rental reversion. |
| resi asset | living | Nordhavn, Denmark | Niam Real Estate | CBRE Investment Management | 13,970m2 | NA | The acquisition is the second Danish investment by Niam’s Fund IX . |
| cross-dock logistics asset | logistics | Paris | MSREI | Manova Partners | 13,000m2 | NA | The lease with the long-standing occupier was recently renewed. |
| 437 rental homes | living | Amsterdam | CBRE Investment Management | Orion Investment Partners | 437 homes | NA | By 2045, the area is expected to accommodate 11,000 homes, while commercial space is set to increase from approximately 700,000m2 to 1 million m2. |
| two assets | living | Issy-les-Moulineaux and Boulogne-Billancourt, France | DeA Capital Real Estate, Invesco Real Estate and Banque
des Territoires |
NA | 550 beds | NA | The two former office properties will undergo an ambitious transformation into high-quality student accommodation. |
| two retail assets | retail | Bielefeld and Hamm, Germany | Paref Gesion | NA | 20,300m2 | NA | Both assets are 100% let for a fixed term of seven and a half years to Handelshof. |
| two care homes | living | Preußisch Oldendorf and Buchholz, Germany | DWS | Cureus | 186 beds | NA | The asset is leased on a long term basis. |
| IntercityHotel Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof Süd | hotel | Frankfurt | Art-Invest Real Estate | CA Immo | 18,700m2 | NA | The property was developed by CA Immo and completed in 2018. |
| Rueil-Malmaison project | development | Paris | ADIM PARIS Île-de-France Habitat | Immobel | 20,000m2 | NA | Immobel had acquired the site in phases between 2019 and 2022 to develop an office headquarters. |
| Telehouse office building | office | Prague | PPF Real Estate | BPD Development, Engine Prague Development | 21,000m2 | NA | The scheme is multi let to tenants from various sectors, including technology, telecommunications, healthcare and pharmaceuticals. |
| data centre asset | data centre | Evora, Spain | NxN Datacenters | Decsis | 1MW | NA | The deal marks the group’s entry into the Portuguese market. |
| WAY Retail Park | retail | Seville | Redevco | NA | 50,000m2 | NA | The acquisition was made through the Redevco European Retail Parks (RERP) fund. |
| life science campus | life science | Hamburg | IMAXXAM | CLS Holdings | 13,116m2 | NA | Completed in 2000, the building offers office, service, laboratory, training and storage space. |
| Assets on the market | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asset | Asset type | Location | Vendor | Size | Price (mln) | Broker | Key facts |
| 20 Old Bailey | office | London | Mirae Asset Global Investments | 247,000sqft | £254 (€297) | Cushman and Wakefield | Mirae had been in talks two years ago to sell the building but refinanced it instead. |
| Albacenter | retail | Albacete, Spain | Grupo Lar, Hines | 27,199m2 | €80 | NA | The asset comprises 59 shops. |
| 80 Cannon Street | office | London | CCLA Investment Management | 52,887sqft | £51 (€60) | Allsop | The scheme comprises 52,887sqft of office and retail space arranged over basement, ground, mezzanine and nine upper floors. |
| 49 Albemarle Street | mixed | London | Trophaeum | 8,130sqft | £20 (€23) | Michael Elliott and Tuatara | The basement and ground floor retail space is let to a Malaysian designer Han Chong’s flagship store Self Portrait. |
| Recently completed loans | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lender(s) | Borrower(s) | Asset(s) | Loan Size (mln) | Key facts |
| Consortium of 13 banks, including BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole CIB, Société Générale, and Standard Chartered Bank | Virtus Data Centres | Data centre portfolio | £2.450 (€2870) | The capital provides long-term funding to support the continued development and expansion of data centers across the UK and Europe |
| ING and DBS | J.P. Morgan Asset Management | One Spitalfields refurbishment in London | £1.016 (€1190) | The transaction is underpinned by a significant pre-let of 465,000sqft. |
| PKO Bank Polski, Erste Bank Polska, Deutsche Hypo – NORD/LB, Bank Pekao, BNP Paribas Bank Polska, Helaba | HB Reavis | Varso Place in Warsaw | €550 | Varso Place consists of three buildings: Varso Tower, Varso 1 and Varso 2. |
| UniCredit Bank, alongside Berlin Hyp and BayernLB | Bayerische Hausbau | Arabella redevelopment project in Munich | €340 | The financing for the Arabella runs until 2032. |
| PGIM | U Store It | Nine modern self-storage facilities in Ireland | £107 (€125) | The senior loan is secured against a mix of assets across Dublin, Belfast, Cork, Galway, and Waterford. |
| Shawbrook | Grace Real Estate Partners | 832 homes in the UK | £60 (€70) | The five-year, interest-only senior facility will be used for the next phase of investment and asset management of the portfolio |
| Cheyne Capital | HIG Capital | Portopiccolo Sistiana | €29 | The portfolio comprises the five-star Tivoli Portopiccolo Sistiana Wellness Resort & Spa alongside residential accommodation, retail space and parking facilities. |
| BayernLB | PG Münchner Str. GmbH | TRI’O hybrid complex in Germany | NA | BayernLB is backing the next phase of development for the newly repositioned complex. |
| New mandates/JVs and funds on the market | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Firm | Fund/mandate/JV | Strategy | Details |
| Proprium Capital Partners and Garbe Insite | Urban Industrial Joint Venture | The partnership aims to build a portfolio of redevelopment projects and selective new-build schemes in urban locations in Germany and selected European markets | With a target volume of €500m, the partnership has acquired a first site in Munich. |
| BauMont, Reneo | €200 German development JV | Developing living real estate in Germany | The initial project involves a “brown-to-green” redevelopment valued at more than €70m. |
| UNIQA Real Estate Management GmbH | UQA Real Estate Fund | The fund will invest in high-quality Core and Core Plus office properties across Europe, with a geographic focus on Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic. | Target fund volume is €600m, including €300m in equity commitments. |
| Redevco | new open-ended European retail parks fund | The core/core-plus vehicle will target convenience-led retail parks and essential retail formats, using conservative leverage. | The fund has €500m in cornerstone commitments at first close. |
| Alma Property Partners | Alma Fund IV | Value-add fund focused on the Nordics | The fund has already deployed capital into three light-industrial aggregation strategies across Greater Stockholm, Greater Malmö and Greater Helsinki. |
| HanseMerkur | Private Real Estate Debt Fund VI | Providing senior whole loans for cash-flow-generating properties in the DACH region | The strategy has provided a €40m green loan for a hotel in Duesseldorf. |
| Partners Group and Empira | Empira Pan-European Living Strategy | The strategy will concentrate primarily on Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain, covering multifamily rental housing as well as student, senior and single-family accommodation. | Partners Group and Empira Group are launching the vehicle targeting €1bn in equity commitments. |
