(This story has been updated to include advisers).
LaSalle Investment Management, the global real estate investment manager, will provide a fixed-rate green loan facility to finance Greystar’s acquisition and development of a major London student homes scheme, CoStar News can reveal.
The £130 million ($165 million) loan was provided through LaSalle Debt Investments, a European alternative real estate lending platform established in 2010, and is for a 770-bed student homes development in Wembley Park in north-west London near the national football stadium.
The project is in a massive regeneration area and a five-minute walk to Wembley Park station. It is also well-connected to a range of London universities, such as King’s College London and the London School of Economics.
The green loan will partially fund the construction of the 770-bed asset which is scheduled to complete in the summer of 2025. The development will comprise 20 storeys with 12,000 square feet of amenities, including a co-working space, external courtyards and gardens, a gym and bike storage. The development has been designed with leading sustainability credentials to achieve a BREEAM rating of Excellent and targeting a Two-Star Fitwel accreditation.
Greystar announced it was buying the site at Wembley Park from Lone Star's Quintain on behalf of its pan-European residential fund Greystar Equity Partners Europe for an undisclosed sum last week. It intends to operate the asset under the Canvas brand, complementing its adjacent 283-bed PBSA site in the Wembley Park area.
LaSalle Debt Investments’ credit strategies include senior loans, whole loans, mezzanine and development finance. It forms part of LaSalle’s pan-European debt and value-add strategies platform, which provides debt and equity capital solutions across European markets and sectors.
Ben Mowbray, senior director – investment, Greystar, said in a statement: “LaSalle’s green loan facility will help us deliver a substantial, but most importantly sustainable student accommodation asset in Wembley. We are committed to ensuring our assets provide a home away from home for students in a time of unprecedented demand without compromising the environment.”
Robert Fay, director, debt investments, LaSalle, said: “We look forward to helping Greystar deliver a best-in-class student product with strong sustainability credentials. This loan represents LaSalle’s fourteenth loan facility secured against student accommodation, a sector we have strong conviction in across our wider European business.”
Fiammetta Granchi, vice-president, debt investments, LaSalle, added: “This facility with Greystar is fixed rate and does not require syndication, providing enhanced stability to the borrower. The loan was structured as a green loan, compliant with the Loan Market Association’s green loan framework and Green Loan Principles. As the drive towards superior environmental performance accelerates, we are committed to supporting our borrowers to deliver high-quality, sustainable accommodation.”
Since entering the UK PBSA market in 2013, Greystar has grown its Chapter Living brand in London, built the Canvas brand in 2021. It also part-owned IQ until 2020. In December 2022, Greystar completed the acquisition of Student Roost, the UK’s third largest PBSA accommodation provider, from one of Brookfield’s real estate private funds for a new joint venture.
Savills Capital Advisors acted as debt adviser to Greystar.