Invesco’s AUD150m (€97.1m) debt financing on a residential project in Australia has been taken over by commercial real estate debt specialist MaxCap Group.
As previously reported, the US investment firm provided the senior debt to finance the high-rise project known as Skytower.
A source told IPE Real Assets: “Our [Invesco’s] commitment to the stretch senior debt position in Skytower was only for the first 3 stages of the development.
“This has now been completed, so there was a natural exit point for us to bring our debt investment in the project to a close and realise the investment for our investors.”
The 90-storey Skytower is being developed by Billbergia Group, an Australian developer, with AMP Capital as a partner and will become Brisbane’s tallest building when completed.
Wayne Lasky, MaxCap’s managing director, said: “We are bullish on the Brisbane market, which is backed by sound fundamentals, yet we approach funding on a highly-selective basis.”
Lasky told IPE Real Assets that Queensland’s economy continues to gather momentum.
“It grew by 2.6% over 2017. Queensland State’s economy has now increased for eight consecutive quarters – the longest run of uninterrupted growth in five years.”
Although Brisbane is currently oversupplied with apartments, Lasky believes the market could return to equilibrium over the next two years.
With population and employment growth, and apartment prices remaining affordable relative to other Australian capital cities, he is hopeful that demand for Brisbane apartments will be improved.
