Puma Property Finance funds £52m GDV sustainable speculative commercial office development

By Bridging Loan Directory 4th August 2022

Puma Property Finance (PPF) today announces it has provided over £30m of acquisition and future development funding to finance a £52m GDV, sustainable speculative commercial office development located in Parsons Green, South West London.

The development is a joint venture between W Real Estate Limited (“W.RE”), and Taurus RE Investment ltd (Taurus UK) which will create an office space compromising of four floors and a basement, which will cover around 45,000 sq. ft.

Significantly, the new building will have a high focus on sustainability, with a specific independent energy strategy that is expected to reduce carbon emissions by nearly 50% from the baseline scheme.

It will include air-sourced heat pumps, 82 cycle spaces and PV panels, and will be developed under a net-zero carbon construction target. These design specifications have been included with the goal of achieving a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ standard, as well as an EPC rating of ‘A’.

The deal also marks PPF’s second deployment from its £300m funding line with Waterfall Asset Management, following its funding of a £65m GDV, 26-storey residential apartment block in Stonebridge Park, North West London, announced in June.

Kevin Davidson, Managing Director, who led the deal for Puma Property Finance, comments:

“We’re delighted to support this development and to be working alongside a leading office and commercial developer in W Real Estate, who have a deep understanding of the London office market.

With growing evidence of a flight to quality in the office market, we see real potential in well-located speculative office developments that are being built with sustainability at their core, especially given that 80% of London office space will need to upgrade to meet EPC requirements by 2030.

It is crucial to the health of our future society that we support the development of sustainable infrastructure now, and this should be an exciting project with those principles at its heart.”

Andrew Haines, COO of W Real Estate Limited added:

“The Parsons Green development is a fantastic project that represents a great example of future-proofing workplace, with sustainability at the centre of the construction.

We have been delighted to work with Puma Property Finance on this deal, and we believe both businesses have significant values in common, particularly around the environmental impact of both the construction process and the resulting development.

We look forward to working with them and seeing this project come to life in the built environment.”

Nick Jacobs, Executive Managing Director, Taurus UK

“As the return to the office continues, there is significant demand for Grade-A office space, especially in Fulham and South West London, where there is great quality of life.

Parsons Green is within walking distance to local transit and local amenities, and will be outfitted with the latest sustainable building technology that ensure resilience through peak energy demand and meets the rigorous and aggressive climate targets for a safe and healthy future.

We believe that such investment is essential for the medium & long-term preservation of value. We also believe that it is our duty to invest with ESG factors as a key part of our strategies.”