Alternative asset manager Cheyne Capital Management has provided a €96 mln senior loan to finance the refurbishment of a large office building in Paris.
The investment marks the latest stage in the growth of Cheyne’s French lending platform, which has originated €450 mln in the past 18 months.
The property, Colisée II, comprises 11,488 m2 of office space, as well as 627 m2 of terrace, and forms part of a broader 70,000 m2 building complex which offers a number of shared services to tenants, including a restaurant and a swimming pool. It is located in Clichy, adjacent to the 17th arrondissement, and benefits from strong transport links, being located just 500m from the Réseau Express Régional (RER) and 400m from the future line 14 metro station Saint Ouen, one of the future transportation hubs of the ‘Grand Paris’.
The sponsor, Cain International, intends to carry out extensive refurbishments and to add a significant extension to the property. The newly refurbished building will meet the highest quality and environmental standards and is part of a wider regeneration scheme for the area. Freo is acting as the operating partner.
Raphael Smadja, head of French Origination at Cheyne Real Estate said ‘We specialise in identifying senior lending opportunities in value-add or development assets in attractive locations with defensive loan-to-values. This investment is an example of this. We see Clichy as a promising area, one which benefits from proximity to Paris city centre but also offering more space – both in-and-outdoor – at a more affordable rate. We are also confident that our partners, Cain and FREO, will complete the property to the highest standards, making this a very attractive property for tenants in line with the broader regeneration of Clichy.’
The investment comes from the seventh vintage of Cheyne’s CRECH programme, the firm’s real estate direct lending strategy, which launched in 2011.
