Deutsche Bank Provides €415M Refinancing For Glass Bottle Development
U.S. private equity firm Oaktree and developer Johnny Ronan have completed a €415M refinancing of the former Irish Glass Bottle site as work advances on roughly 4,000 homes at the prominent Dublin 4 location, with Deutsche Bank behind the funding.
Pembroke Beach, which is overseeing the joint venture, confirmed that the German lender is stepping in to replace the existing construction finance syndicate supporting the phased development. U.S. investment group Blackstone had previously acted as lead debt financier.
Under the ownership structure, Oaktree controls an 83.3% interest in Pembroke Beach, while Ronan Group Real Estate holds 11.7%. The remaining 5% is owned by an entity associated with Lioncor, a co-developer on the project, which is a joint venture between Oaktree and Alanis Capital.
“Glass Bottle stands as one of the most ambitious and impressive development projects ever undertaken in Dublin," Lioncor Chief Executive Marcus Ryan said in a statement. "The addition of Deutsche Bank as a new financing partner alongside Oaktree and Ronan Group bolsters our long-term growth strategy as joint developers and represents a positive endorsement of both the strength of market opportunity for new capital projects in Dublin and our team’s proven ability to deliver at scale.”
Oaktree has been seeking a new equity partner since mid-2024. In November last year, the scheme reached a milestone when its first residential block, the 212-apartment Lime House, achieved practical completion and welcomed its first tenants.
Building works are continuing across the remaining phases. The next tranche of 180 apartments is due for completion by the end of March, while two additional blocks, providing a further 495 homes, are scheduled to be finished by the end of September, according to Lioncor.
Construction of the next residential phase, which will include another 586 homes, is set to begin in the first half of this year. The overall development is expected to deliver about 4,000 homes, with 25% allocated to social and affordable housing, alongside 1M SF of commercial space.
In October, planning permission was granted for a 20-storey hotel at the site with a 228-room hotel tower including a cafe, licensed bar/restaurant and business centre. Two additional basement levels are set to include service spaces and offices.
The planning application was first submitted by Pembroke Beach in February but was revised after it hit issues in the planning system.
The overall site was originally assembled in 2006 by Becbay, a company backed by developer Bernard McNamara, property financier Derek Quinlan and the Dublin Docklands Development Authority. Becbay acquired the land for €412M in a deal financed by Anglo Irish Bank.
Following financial difficulties, the National Asset Management Agency appointed receivers to two separate tranches of the 37-acre site between 2011 and 2012.
Oaktree and RGRE reached an agreement in late 2020 to acquire an 80% stake from Nama for approximately €200M, and Nama subsequently sold its remaining interests to Oaktree in 2023.
