Guggenheim Partners is to provide a loan of just under £130m to finance the redevelopment of one of the most important landmarks of the London 2012 Olympic Games, Real Estate Capital can reveal.
The financial services giant has agreed to provide iCity, the joint venture behind the redevelopment of the 1.2m sq ft former Press and Broadcast Centres, with a development loan that will cover close to the entire cost of the project. The loan has a term of up to five years but has certain early repayment options dependent upon the performance of the asset, which is located in Stratford, east London.
The deal is one of the first completed by Guggenheim since Jonathan Goldstein, the former deputy chief executive of Gerald Ronson’s Heron International, joined the firm as its first head of real estate and direct investment for Europe in January. The global financial services firm, which has $210bn under management, is focusing on long-term real estate investment, lending and partnerships in the UK and continental Europe.
The scheme is only 40% pre-let and therefore represents something of a risk for Guggenheim. Development work is due to commence this month and become fully operational by 2018.
The ICity joint venture developing the scheme, which has been branded Here East, is made up of Jamie Ritblat’s Delancey and Infinity SDC, a data centre operator.
BT Sport already operates an 80,000 sq ft production facility at Here East and Infinity SDC has pre-let 250,000 sq ft for a data centre. Educational institutions Loughborough University and Hackney Community College will also have a presence at the complex from 2015.
In total Here East will include the data centre, 120,000 sq ft of broadcast and production facilities, 70,000 sq ft of educational space, up to 350,000 sq ft of office space, up to 100,000 sq ft of studio and accelerator space for growing businesses, 50,000 sq ft of amenities and leisure and a 1,000 seat convention centre.
All parties declined to comment.
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