Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, the property arm of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, is providing much needed finance to enable the development of the Shard tower in London to proceed. The 72-storey Shard, designed by Renzo Piano, will be the tallest building in the UK when completed, but the credit crisis has slowed the financing of the £1 bn (EUR 1.1 bn) project.
Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company, the property arm of Qatar's sovereign wealth fund, is providing much needed finance to enable the development of the Shard tower in London to proceed. The 72-storey Shard, designed by Renzo Piano, will be the tallest building in the UK when completed, but the credit crisis has slowed the financing of the £1 bn (EUR 1.1 bn) project.
Qatari Diar said earlier this week that it is providing a funding facility to LBQ, the Jersey-registered holding company that is developing the Shard and associated London Bridge Place. The amount of the loan was not disclosed.
LBQ is an international joint venture owned equally by Qatar Islamic Bank, Qinvest, Qatar National Bank, Barwa International and Sellar Property Group, who are also leading the development. Qatari Diar said it is not participating in the equity of LBQ 'at this stage', but will be taking a seat on the board of directors of the company.
Demolition and site clearance of the Shard site will be completed in January 2009; demolition and site clearance will commence on the London Bridge Place site in March 2009. Construction on both sites is expected to commence next year with practical completion in 2012.
A spokesman for Qatari Diar said: 'This further financial commitment by Qatari Diar to London's real estate market underscores our conviction that, despite its current challenges, London remains one of the most important real estate markets in the world and it is one in which we have an ongoing interest. We take a long term view of all of our investments here and remain confident of their successful outcome.'
