Nuveen invests in Amsterdam with loan for Breakthrough project

Life-sciences real estate developer Breakthrough Properties has secured a €35m loan from Nuveen Real Estate for a project in the Netherlands.

Nuveen’s fourth pan-European debt strategy is providing the loan to the partnership between Tishman Speyer and Bellco Capital to finance the acquisition and construction of the pre-let One Helix asset in Amsterdam.

Once complete, One Helix will provide a 5,155sqm, five-storey, office and laboratory building in the south-east of Amsterdam within the medical cluster surrounding the Amsterdam University Medical Center.

The transaction represents the second investment for the strategy following an agreement of €54m to finance three logistics assets in Berlin for Valor. The strategy was launched in 2022 with €150m of initial capital secured from several German institutional investors alongside Nuveen’s parent, TIAA.

Caroline Pellmann, senior director at Nuveen Real Estate, said: “The real estate debt market is still very competitive in the right geographies and sectors, so we are pleased to have partnered with Breakthrough Properties and Tishman Speyer to finance this state-of-the-art life sciences development.

“We are proud to be working with such highly experienced sponsors specialising in the life-science space and we look forward to the next steps of this development.”

Tom Renn, SVP for acquisitions and development for Europe at Breakthrough Properties, said: “Our ongoing collaboration with the Amsterdam University Medical Center and Neogene is emblematic of Breakthrough Properties’ commitment to supporting cutting edge science while also delivering top-quality, sustainable environments.

“We are grateful to the team at Nuveen Real Estate for helping us turn our vision for this facility into reality.”

To read the latest IPE Real Assets magazine click here.