This Week's London Deal Sheet
The Deal Sheet is a weekly compilation of Greater London and beyond's biggest leases, sales, financing deals, construction updates and personnel moves. Have news you’d like to submit? Email mark.faithfull@bisnow.com.
Jonathan Goldstein and Toddy Boehly’s Cain International and Starwood Capital have agreed a £535M loan to Canary Wharf Group for the next phase of development of its Wood Wharf residential scheme.
Cain and Starwood Capital will each provide half of the £535M development loan, one of the largest in the UK in the past 12 months.
Part of the wider Canary Wharf estate, Wood Wharf Phase 3 is a 1,308-home private build-to-rent scheme, split across three towers and two buildings. It sits alongside 26K SF of ancillary commercial space. The phase includes 295 affordable homes.
The scheme is a pivotal part of CWG’s repositioning to offer 24/7 living, working, shopping and leisure. In total, Wood Wharf is expected to consist of over 3,600 new homes in addition to over 9 acres of public spaces, a general practice surgery and a school. Its estimated completion is in phases from the end of 2025 to Q1 2027.
FINANCE
LGIM’s UK and European real estate debt division has completed a £400M loan for Unite to refinance a public bond for its Unite UK Student Accommodation Fund, which matured in 2023.
The loan is secured against a portfolio of 23 purpose-built student accommodation assets across the UK. The transaction extends LGIM’s relationship with the Unite Group and further expands the loan book's exposure to student accommodation, a sector in which LGIM said it expected to outperform in the medium term due to favourable demand and supply dynamics.
Rothschild acted as debt adviser to Unite and Simmons & Simmons acted for LGIM real estate debt.
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Macquarie Asset Management announced the final close of Macquarie European Logistics Real Estate Fund with approximately €260M in investor commitments.
Macquarie Asset Management’s first dedicated fund to the logistics real estate sector in Europe was launched in 2021 to target opportunities in core and core-plus logistics investments across the region. The strategy seeks to provide investors with exposure to a diversified portfolio of income-generating assets.
The fund received commitments from a range of investors, including pension funds and insurance companies. It has been successfully deployed across a portfolio of 10 European properties, including logistics facilities in the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland and Norway.
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Aviva Investors has provided an additional £57M in sustainable transition financing to listed company Urban Logistics REIT.
The new loan, a nine-year facility, is secured against a portfolio of 10 logistics assets across the UK, which together total more than 900K SF. It is the fifth such financing made since the two businesses established a lending relationship in March 2021.
The loan also includes a commitment from Urban Logistics REIT to undertake sustainability improvements across the 10 assets being lent against, as well as 23 additional properties from previous tranches of financing that were not linked to sustainability. As a result, the entire lending programme between the two businesses is now aligned with Aviva Investors’ sustainable transition loans framework and Urban Logistics’ environmental, social and governance targets.
Launched in 2020, Aviva Investors’ sustainable transition loans framework embeds measurable ESG commitments into loan terms to reduce carbon emissions from buildings. Originally committing to originate £1B in sustainable transition real estate debt by 2025, the programme surpassed its initial target in May 2022.
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Silbury Finance, the Oaktree Capital Management-backed development lender, has provided a £67M senior loan to residential developer MCR Property Group. The 24-month facility will fund the development of 341 homes, a mix of for-sale and rentals, in the commuter town of Bedford. It represents the third deal between the two parties.
Since launching in January 2021, Silbury has provided £685M of development and investment finance for retirement living and build-to-sell schemes across England, with a gross development value of more than £1B.
Located on Dallas Road, 2 miles south-west of Bedford town centre, planning has been secured for the phased development of 297 primarily one- and two-bed flats for private sale, 28 townhouses and 16 shared ownership properties,
Expected to complete in Q3 2025, the homes will target a minimum B Energy Performance Certificate rating, while the development phase will see MCR utilise low-carbon construction methods, including PV panels, air-source heat pumps and mechanical ventilation with heat recovery system. These technologies are designed to minimise energy consumption and reduce the project's carbon footprint, aligning with the developer’s commitment to environmental sustainability.
