pbb lends €100m on Paris regeneration

pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank has provided a €100m loan package to Paris regeneration firm SEMAPA for its Paris Rive-Gauche development on the bank of the Seine.

The five-year facility is comprised of a number of development loans and will fund the next stage in the project beginning with infrastructure works.

“This financing allows SEMAPA to pursue a new phase of its urbanization project and to complete the coverage of the railways and thus to expand its intervention to the entire area,” said Jean Christophe, head of public investment finance and general manager of the French branch of pbb.

Public development company SEMAPA, which stands for Société d’Etude, de Maitrise d’Ouvrage et d’Aménagement Parisienne, is building one of the largest schemes in the French capital since the 19th century.

It launched the Paris Rive-Gauche project in 1991 to develop a 1.3 sq km site along the Seine’s left bank. The whole scheme, near Austerlitz train station and Bibliothèque François Mitterrand, is due to be complete in 2024.

The new phase, financed by pbb in December but only recently approved for announcement by its French client, will extend building at the site to the south and east.

Christophe said: “pbb’s expertise in such public projects, based on its dual expertise in public investment finance and in real estate finance, makes it the natural choice for such financings, especially for organisations with the proven track record and public backing that SEMAPA enjoys.”