Lender Erste Group has announced that it has provided a €320 mln refinancing facility to a fund managed by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI) for Wien-Mitte, a multi-use trophy property located in the centre of Vienna.
Erste Group acted as sole underwriter and arranger, which is its single largest real estate financing to date.
Wien-Mitte comprises 63,000 m2 of modern offices and a 28,000 m2 shopping centre called 'The Mall'. Acquired by an investment fund managed by MSREI in 2015, Wien-Mitte is fully let on a long-term basis to anchor tenants such as the Austrian Ministry of Finance, multinational packaging and paper group Mondi, MediaMarkt, and supermarket operator SPAR.
Wien-Mitte is a green building with ESG credentials such as a DGNB Platinum certification and an ÖGNI Green Building status in line with EU taxonomy.
Erste Group was the sole underwriter and arranger of the refinancing and also acted as facility and security agent. At €320 mln, the refinancing for Wien-Mitte is Erste Group’s largest single real estate loan to date.
'Erste Group is proud to have financed as sole underwriter in its home market such a large and high-quality trophy asset as Wien-Mitte. This transaction marks a continuation of Erste Group’s strategy to finance super prime, green buildings that are owned and managed by high quality sponsors with strong asset management track record,' said Wolfgang Molnar, executive director for Commercial Real Estate at Erste Group.
'MSREI is delighted to have completed the refinancing of this landmark trophy asset with Erste Group. We have been investing in quality properties in Austria for the past decade and we continue to like the fundamentals of the Austrian real estate market,' said Oriol Espinet, executive director at MSREI.
