US firm Kennedy Wilson has taken up a loan to assist with a mixed use development in South Dublin that qualifies for AIB Bank’s newly-launched preferred pricing strategy for so-called “green loans”.
Kennedy Wilson is using the €77 mln facility to develop alongside an equity partner a project called The Cornerstone, which is a mixed-use community that will deliver 232 apartments, resident amenities and nearly 1,850 m2 of retail, restaurant and café space, and a landscaped public plaza in Stillorgan.
Derek O’Shea, head of development finance at AIB, said: ‘AIB is proud to support customers like Kennedy Wilson in order to ensure that our ambition of green lending accounting for 70% of all our new lending by 2030 is achieved.’
Kennedy Wilson has committed to building the project to high environmental standards, targeting LEED, WELL Gold and BREEAM Excellent certifications, and will meet the new Irish Green Building Council (IGBC) building specification to maintain the discounted loan from AIB.
Peter Collins, global sustainability officer at Kennedy Wilson, said: ‘We are delighted to close our first green loan with AIB and to be working alongside a bank who shares in our commitment to reduce the carbon footprint of new construction projects across Ireland.’
The exact financial terms of the reduced rate were not made public.
