Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) is providing a €450m finance facility on a retail asset in Berlin.
The €60bn pension fund said it had financed the development of the 80,000sqm Mall of Berlin in Leipziger Platz as part of a lending consortium. The 270 unit mall is due to open next month.
Also in the consortium is Deutsche Hypo, which will contribute €80m, as well as two BNP Paribas REIM Germany credit funds contributing the remaining €70m. BNP Paribas bought iii-investments from Germany’s HypoVereinsbank, a subsidiary of Italy’s UniCredit Group, late last year.
A spokeswoman confirmed that BVK’s role in the co-financing was part of a cooperation signed between the Versorgungswerk and Deutsche Hypo last year.
“But this cooperation agreement is of course not exclusive – which means in future we will issue loans both as part of a consortium as well as for large projects on our own,” she added.
So far, the Versorgungswerk has financed several major transactions and projects, including the Silberturm and Tower 185.
BVK confirmed there are new projects in the pipeline, some in the residential sector, not as yet part of the fund’s credit portfolio.
“We will in future put more focus on the residential sector when it comes to financing projects,” the spokeswoman said.
Asked whether the fund would consider financing a residential project in Frankfurt planned by CORPUS SIREO, BVK said it currently has “too little information” on the project. Corpus Sireo, recently sold to Swiss Life, is seeking investors for the high-rise scheme.
