Austrian listed property group Immofinanz has secured a $715 mln (EUR 545 mln) financing from Sberbank for its flagship shopping centre development in Moscow.
Austrian listed property group Immofinanz has secured a $715 mln (EUR 545 mln) financing from Sberbank for its flagship shopping centre development in Moscow.
In a statement on Wednesday Immofinanz, which last month bought the remaining 50% share in the scheme, said the loan has a term of 10 years and will be used mainly to repay the development financing provided by Immofinanz to fund the construction of the Golden Babylon Rostokino shopping centre.
'The funds released by this loan will be used to continue our growth course and to realise new development projects, especially in the East European markets where double-digit yields can be generated,' commented Immofinanz's CEO Eduard Zehetner.
The Golden Babylon Rostokino shopping centre in Moscow was developed as a joint venture with local firm Patero and was opened in November 2009.
With 168,000 m2 of rentable space and 241,000 m2 of total space, it is not only a flagship for the Moscow retail sector but also one of the largest shopping centres in Continental Europe. International retail chains include Media Markt, H&M, Inditex (Zara, Zara Home, Bershka), a Castorama building materials outlet, the Finnish department store Stockmann and the Russian food hypermarket O’key.
The shopping centre currently has an occupancy rate of roughly 95%.
