Real estate developer HB Reavis has secured a £106 mln (€128 mln) green loan from HSBC UK to refinance an existing facility.
The funding was secured against HB Reavis’s completed Worship Square project in Shoreditch, London. The company plans to use the new loan to invest in additional sustainable real estate developments.
Worship Square significantly outperforms sustainability benchmarks, with 50% lower embodied carbon than the 2020 baseline and 20% less than the GLA’s aspiration. It has achieved an EPC ‘A’ rating, WiredScore Platinum, and SmartScore Platinum certifications. It is also pursuing WELL Platinum, BREEAM Outstanding, and NABERS 5-star ratings.
Steven Skinner, CEO of HB Reavis Development, said: ‘We were thrilled to build on our relationship with HB Reavis with this latest refinance. In addition to its sustainability credentials, Worship Square features one of the first affordable workspaces in Hackney. We look forward to seeing more of these developments as HB Reavis expands its footprint across Europe.’
Alan Knight, relationship director at HSBC UK, added: ‘Awarded Decarbonisation Project of the Year at the GRI Awards Europe this year, Worship Square is an all-electric building, featuring high-efficiency air-source heat pumps, smart energy management, and 71 m2 of photovoltaic panels generating on-site renewable energy. It includes innovative, biophilic features such as the ‘green heart’ living lobby, rooftop garden, urban allotments with an in-house wormery for composting and 3,200 plants. The building also offers live energy usage data to support ESG reporting.’
The green loan follows HSBC UK’s 2022 refinancing of HB Reavis’ Bloom Clerkenwell building.
