German bank DekaBank is in talks to provide finance to global real estate investment manager Hines backing its circa £185 million acquisition of the City of London's Worship Square offices.
Hines bought the Grade A office scheme at 65 Clifton Street from HB Reavis last month on behalf of one of its funds.
It is understood that Deka is in talks to provide financing at a loan to value of between 60 and 65% which suggests the loan size is up to £120 million.
The 139,000-square-foot property provides workspace across nine floors with terraces and amenities. It was completed by HB Reavis last year and is 97% leased.
Occupiers include global technology company Wise and European economic consultancy Frontier Economics. The building also hosts flexible workspace, with the lower ground and basement floors operated by HB Reavis’ HubHub brand.
In December, Central European real estate developer HB Reavis said it had secured a £106 million real estate investment green loan from HSBC UK to refinance its development finance facility for the building.
The net-zero building has secured an EPC A rating, WiredScore Platinum and SmartScore Platinum. It is also targeting WELL Platinum, BREEAM Outstanding and NABERS 5-star rating.
Savills and CBRE advised HB Reavis on the sale while Cushman & Wakefield advised Hines.
The transaction again underlines the strength of appetite from lenders to back the most prime commercial real estate in the UK. Last week Hayfin and Capreon completed the circa £335 million acquisition of 70 St Mary Axe in the City of London with debt financing from Santander and CaixaBank.
The most recent report from London's Bayes Business School found new lending for commercial real estate in the first half of 2025 was 33% up on the same period last year.
Total new lending reached £22.3 billion, or nearly $30 billion, while secondary loan market syndication surpassed £10 billion, or about $13 billion, almost matching the full-year total for 2024. The only problem has been the investment market is still lagging, with 74% of new lending reported as being for refinancing.
According to Bayes' lender survey there is particular enthusiasm for financing office and logistics assets, followed by student housing and residential properties.
Prime office and industrial/logistics (88%) had the highest numbers of lenders willing to lend, despite the fact the lenders are very selective with office deals, and overall lending volumes to the sector are declining. A total of 60 lenders were offering finance for prime office deals, but this number drops to only 19 (28%) for secondary office properties - 26 lenders would provide office development finance. Student housing and residential properties are ranking in fourth and fifth place in financing popularity.
The report’s author Nicole Lux said there had been an increased improvement in banks’ appetite for new lending, with loans now offered at highly competitive rates. "Lender sentiment has turned increasingly bullish, with 39 lenders indicating a preference for issuing loans exceeding £100 million.”
Hines and Deka declined to comment.