Singapore’s GIC has backed Gresham Property in providing a A$700m (€445m) “green” construction loan to fund Oxford Properties, Investa and Mitsubishi Estate’s Parkline Place office building in Sydney, Australia.
Last month, Oxford Properties and Investa have formed a partnership with Mitsubishi Estate to develop the A$1.6bn office building above Sydney Metro’s new Pitt Street Station.
The debt facility is one of the largest single construction loans to have been made by a non-bank lender in Australia. The loan comes from what is known as Gresham’s 8th Fund, and its sidecar investment.
Mike Burley, Gresham’s joint managing director, said: “One of the features of our 8th Fund is the ability to offer fund investors an exclusive opportunity to participate in larger investments by way of co-investment.”
Having this co-investment feature, and a very supportive investor base, allowed the firm to provide large loans without a need for syndication, Burley said.
His co-joint managing director, Ami Simon, told IPE Real Assets GIC had invested around A$300m with the firm’s development fund to finance for other construction projects in Australia.
He declined to specify the amount invested in the facility to the Parkline project, but said it was “significant”.
Lee Kok Sun, GIC’s real estate CIO, said GIC was “delighted” to deepen its partnership with Gresham Property through the green loan.
“As a long-term investor, sustainability is integral to GIC’s mandate and continues to be a key priority for us,” Lee said, adding that, in real estate, GIC found that tenants globally had an increasing preference for environmentally- sustainable buildings.
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