Belgian property developer Ghelamco has secured a £175 mln (€190 mln) financing facility for its first investment in the UK market involving the acquisition and development of 225 City Road in Shoreditch, London.
The senior loan was provided by Goldman Sachs with Tikehau Capital providing the mezzanine facility.
225 City Road is a freehold 0.9-acre development site which has secured planning consent for a mixed-use scheme that will encompass circa 150,000 sq ft of Grade-A office space, 100 residential apartments and circa 7,500 sq ft of retail space. The scheme has been designed by Stirling Prize-winning architects Allford Hall Monaghan Morris. 225 City Road comprises of a development site which
JLL’s Debt Advisory and Structured Finance team advised on the deal.
Chris Semones, managing director, Goldman Sachs, said: ‘We are excited to be supporting Ghelamco’s development of 225 City Road. This continues our strategy to originate and hold loans backed by high-quality real estate, delivered by best in class Sponsors.’
Maxime Laurent-Bellue, head of Tactical Strategies at Tikehau Capital and Jean Odendall, fund manager of the Tikehau Special Opportunities funds, stated: ‘We are pleased to be working Ghelamco, who shares our entrepreneurial spirit and drive, on their first major project in the UK. We are also thrilled to contribute to the financing of this ambitious development, which emphasises Tikehau Capital’s continued commitment to the UK and constitutes a landmark transaction for our special opportunities fund. Our flexible and bespoke mandate enables us to provide capital solutions to complex situations, in a timely manner, and therefore to act as a long term and reliable financial partner.”
Claudio Sgobba, senior director, Debt and Structured Finance, EMEA, JLL, said: ‘This transaction is one the first ground-up development financings launched and completed during the Covid-19 pandemic and is indicative of the underlying strength of the central London market, appetite and availability of capital for the right sponsors and assets.’
