Australia government-owned clean energy finance corporation CEFC and the Victorian Funds Management Corporation (VFMC) have provided A$140m (€90m) funding for a timber office project being developed by Hines.
CEFC and the state public sector pension fund, through the Madigan Capital-managed Madigan Active Debt Fund, will each lend up to A$70m for the T3 Collingwood development in Melbourne. IPE Real Assets understood that Madigan has funded other Hines developments previously.
The 15-storey office tower, located at 36 Wellington St Collingwood near Melbourne is expected to be worth around A$200m on completion next year.
Hines acquired the development site in 2019 for its T3 – Transit, Timber and Technology – projects. T3 Collingwood will be the first Australian addition to the Hines T3 global portfolio.
Hines Australia managing director, Simon Nasa, said: “Mass-timber construction is an important step in driving a sustainable future for the built environment we live and work in.”
CEFC CEO, Ian Learmonth, said: “Mass timber can play an important role in decarbonising the buildings that make up our cities, and this investment showcases how timber can be used to change the way we approach commercial-scale buildings.”
He said this was the first loan under the CEFC’s A$300m Timber Building Programme.
Madigan Capital founder and CEO, Michael Wood, said his firm believed it had a responsibility to invest in projects that were working towards using sustainably-sourced construction methods and materials to reduce operational and embodied carbon.
To read the latest edition of the latest IPE Real Assets magazine click here.
