Norway’s municipal and public health sector occupational pension company KLP, the country’s largest, and a group of institutional investors, have committed close to €100 mln to the first closing of the Catella Elithis Energy Positive Fund (CEEPF).
Managed by Berlin-based Catella Residential Investment Management (CRIM), CEEPF claims to be the world’s first real estate investment vehicle to focus exclusively on residential developments which produce more energy from renewable sources than consumed by the buildings and their tenants.
The “Impact Fund” is targeting a total asset volume of €500 mln to invest in “energy positive’ Elithis towers named after the French company developing them, and sites have already been agreed with local authorities for the French cities of Mulhouse, Brest, Le Havre, Nancy and Bordeaux.
Michael Fink, MD at CRIM, said:’ 'We are delighted to welcome KLP and other institutional Investors who have joined us on our mission to lead the sustainable transformation of our cities.’
‘We have high expectations of our Elithis Towers which we are developing in partnership with French sustainable building engineering and real estate developer Elithis Groupe. These towers outperform the EU’s 2050 net carbon zero target operationally by using bioclimatic design and technologies which render them energy positive from the start and they can be built at standard market construction costs. We can offer with CEEPF a viable ESG investment solution for two of the greatest crises of our times, climate change and widening social inequality, as households increasingly come up pressure from the soaring cost of living, particularly in residential rents and high energy prices.’
He said residents of the Elithis Towers could benefit from a substantial reduction or complete elimination of their household energy bills, which makes effective apartment rents more affordable than comparable homes in the neighbourhood -- around 5% to 10% lower on average.
Andreas Farberg, investment manager global real estate at KLP, Norway’s pension company for local government and healthcare sectors, said: ‘We see CEEPF as one of the most ambitious strategies in Europe to address both climate change and the need for good quality affordable housing.’
Casper van Grieken, executive director, CBRE Netherland – head of capital advisors, concluded: ‘‘We are super proud of this truly unique impact proposition. The Elithis Fund combines performance in terms of both environmental and social impact. The buildings deliver operational carbon neutrality and effective affordable rents through the reduction and even elimination of domestic energy bills, thereby increasing each household’s annual purchasing power. This is particularly relevant at a time of soaring energy prices in Europe.’
