Aareal lends €25m on Sydney hotel – its first ‘green’ loan

Wiesbaden-based Aareal Bank has closed its first green loan, a mortgage loan of about A$39 million (c € 25 million) made to Australia’s Pro-invest Group to re-finance the Holiday Inn Express Macquarie Park hotel in Sydney.   

Aareal bank acted as arranger and sole lender and the agreement has been made according to its Green Finance Framework established during the first half of 2021. The loan is subject to qualitative and quantitative environmental criteria to which the borrower has committed.

The asset was Australia’s first Holiday Inn Express hotel and Pro-invest Group’s first operational hotel.

Several design and development initiatives have been incorporated into the hotel, which was built in 2016, in order to significantly reduce energy and water consumption. The environmentally friendly initiatives range from sustainably produced and energy-efficient equipment, smart light- and air-conditioning management, more eco-friendly housekeeping and laundry routines and the systematic recording and auditing of consumption data.

Hotel achieves post construction energy ratings

The hotel has achieved a post-construction 4.5+ star rating for both energy and water under the National Australian Built Environmental Rating System (NABERS) for four consecutive years.

 “Buildings generate nearly 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions. As a financier, we are in a privileged position to ensure that the energy efficiency of buildings is taken into account or improved by existing owners,” stated Christof Winkelmann, member of the management board of Aareal Bank.

“In the coming years, we want to continuously increase the share of green buildings in our lending portfolio and see it as part of our corporate responsibility to actively promote social change and global developments by financing forward-looking properties.”

Pro-invest Group is an asset manager and investment firm specialising in private equity real estate and real estate asset management. Established in 2010, the company is now one of the largest hotel investment platforms in Australasia.

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