London (January 9, 2025) – LaSalle Investment Management (“LaSalle”), the global real estate investment manager, announces that it has provided a £68.7 million green loan to Vita Group to finance the delivery of a new 540-bed purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) scheme in central Birmingham.
Located on Gough Street in Birmingham city centre, the asset will benefit from excellent rail, bus and tram links. The scheme will help address the undersupply of specialist accommodation in the UK’s second largest student market, with five universities and c.80,000 students based in the Birmingham Metropolitan Area. Planning permission was secured and construction work, led by MRP, commenced in 2023, with completion set for August 2026.
The 105,000-sq-ft scheme will comprise two tower blocks, of 10 and 29 stories respectively, with amenities including private dining rooms, a vibrant hub space for socialising and studying, a state-of-the-art gym, an outdoor basketball court, outdoor terraces and shared cycle storage. The building is designed to be highly sustainable, targeting BREAAM ‘Excellent’ certification, with LaSalle’s green loan structured under the Loan Market Association’s green loan framework.
David White, Head of LaSalle Real Estate Debt Strategies, said: “This latest development loan completed by our Debt Investments platform maintains our strong pace of deployment, positioning our business as one of the most active real estate debt providers in Europe. In Vita Group and MRP, we are working with two firms with best-in-class reputations for providing high-calibre, well-amenitized student accommodation and for successfully delivering large-scale PBSA schemes. Our investment in the Gough Street development provides our investors with exposure to a high-quality asset, supported by the strong fundamentals of Birmingham’s structurally undersupplied student market.”
Max Bielby, Chief Operating Officer for Vita Group, added: “We’re delighted to be working with trusted partner LaSalle to deliver this best-in-class student accommodation to the heart of Birmingham. The delivery of this building is well underway and will raise the standards of what students should and can expect from their accommodation experience in the city centre. We look forward to welcoming students from September 2026.”
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About LaSalle Investment Management | Investing Today. For Tomorrow.
LaSalle Investment Management is one of the world’s leading real estate investment managers. On a global basis, LaSalle manages US$88.2 billion of assets in private and public real estate equity and debt investments as of Q3 2024. LaSalle’s diverse client base includes public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, corporations, endowments and private individuals from across the globe. LaSalle sponsors a complete range of investment vehicles, including separate accounts, open- and closed-end funds, public securities and entity-level investments.
For more information, please visit www.lasalle.com, and LinkedIn.
About LaSalle Debt Investments
LaSalle Debt Investments is part of LaSalle’s growing US$10 billion Debt and Value-Add Strategies platform in Europe and invests in a diverse range of real estate credit solutions – spanning senior loans, whole loans, mezzanine, development finance, corporate finance, NAV facilities and preferred equity – with significant experience across various sectors, geographies, deal sizes and capital structures. Since launching the business line in 2010, LaSalle has been one of Europe’s most active alternative real estate debt providers with a long track record of lending to best-in-class sponsors.
London (November 5, 2024) – LaSalle Investment Management (“LaSalle”), the global real estate investment manager, announces that it has provided a loan facility of £123 million through its flagship real estate debt fund, LREDS IV, to finance the acquisition of two UK holiday parks on behalf of One Investment Management (“OneIM”), a global alternative investment manager, and Foundation Partners, an independent private equity firm.
Located across the UK in Somerset (Unity Farm) and Yorkshire (Skirlington), the holiday parks benefit from proximity to the coast, lakes and local amenities, and collectively comprise around 4,300 pitches with about half of those currently operational.
The sites represent some of the largest UK holiday park assets that are not currently held in institutional portfolios. OneIM and Foundation Partners’ investment will help the two sites expand their number of pitches, develop new holiday homes for prospective visitors, grow the onsite offering and professionalise local operations. Underpinned by strong fundamentals and significant growth potential, the two large-scale parks represent the first seed assets as part of a targeted £500 million platform called Unity Holidays, which OneIM and Foundation Partners intend to grow.
Nathan Jackson, Director, LaSalle Debt Investments, said: “We are pleased to have supported best-in-class sponsors in OneIM and Foundation Partners to secure these high-quality assets in the UK leisure market. The breadth and depth of expertise in the LaSalle Debt Investments platform has ensured that we’re able to deliver a bespoke financing solution to clients and capitalise on attractive opportunities for our investors. We very much look forward to continuing to support OneIM and the future growth of their platform.”
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About LaSalle Investment Management | Investing Today. For Tomorrow.
LaSalle Investment Management is one of the world’s leading real estate investment managers. On a global basis, LaSalle manages US$84.8 billion of assets in private and public real estate equity and debt investments as of Q2 2024. LaSalle’s diverse client base includes public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, corporations, endowments and private individuals from across the globe. LaSalle sponsors a complete range of investment vehicles, including separate accounts, open- and closed-end funds, public securities and entity-level investments.
For more information, please visit www.lasalle.com, and LinkedIn.
About LaSalle Debt Investments
LaSalle Debt Investments is part of LaSalle’s growing US$ 10 billion Debt and Value-Add Strategies platform in Europe and invests in a diverse range of real estate credit solutions – spanning senior loans, whole loans, mezzanine, development finance, corporate finance, NAV facilities and preferred equity – with significant experience across various sectors, geographies, deal sizes and capital structures. Since launching the business line in 2010, LaSalle has been one of Europe’s most active alternative real estate debt providers with a long track record of lending to best-in-class sponsors.
About OneIM
OneIM is a global alternative investment manager that invests across the capital structure, in a range of asset classes, industries and geographies. The firm applies a flexible investment approach driven by fundamental analysis, focusing on credit special situations and capital dislocations. OneIM seeks to provide tailored capital solutions built on proprietary sourcing and underwriting complexity. OneIM is sector agnostic and targets complex situations that do not fit into a single asset class, where truly bespoke structured investments can offer superior risk-reward dynamics and asymmetrical outcomes. The firm was founded in 2022 and currently manages approximately $7 billion in assets. The team operates from offices in Abu Dhabi, London, Tokyo and New York.
This article first appeared in the November 2024 edition of IREI Americas (subscription required).
Senior real estate credit specialists from LaSalle discuss the rising significance of senior real estate mortgage credit in investment portfolios with Institutional Real Estate Investor. They explore its ability to provide steady income and downside protection, the growing role of alternative lenders, and the current market opportunity. The article examines how this strategy offers attractive risk-adjusted returns, portfolio diversification, and enhanced resilience in today’s dynamic economic environment.
Dave White, Head of Real Estate Debt Strategies, and Dominic Silman, Europe Head of Debt and Value-add Capital Research and Strategy, discuss how we find opportunities and the evolution of the investment landscape over the last 15 years.
Dave White and Dominic Silman discuss our investment selection process, which combines bottom-up, on-the-ground market knowledge with top-down, macroeconomic and geopolitical analysis to identify attractive investments that meet our investment criteria.
In addition to how we identify opportunities, they cover where we are likely to invest, and how the opportunities before us have evolved over the last decade and a half.
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This article first appeared in IREI Newsline.
As traditional lenders step back, the real estate debt market is opening up new avenues for institutional investors. In a recent Q&A with IREI, LaSalle’s Jen Wichmann, Senior Strategist and SVP of Research and Strategy, discusses the evolving landscape of real estate debt investments. From long-term trends and current market opportunities to the benefits of stable cash flow and downside protection, Wichmann provides insights into the sector.
Dave White, Head of Real Estate Debt Strategies, and Brett Ormrod, Net Zero Carbon Lead for Europe, discuss the current and future state of green lending across Europe.
While lending volumes across the market remain volatile, data shows one continuously increasing metric: the demand for green loans, which is being driven by the ever-growing sustainability requirements from both investors and sponsors.
Dave White and Brett Ormrod discuss the challenges that borrowers and investors are facing, and how we at LaSalle are navigating these dynamics. They discuss how green loans are impacting the European real estate market, what they can mean for investors’ bottom lines, and the overall opportunity not just for green loans, but for greener assets in investors’ portfolios.
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This article first appeared in the September 2024 edition of PERE
LaSalle’s Isabelle Brennan sat down with peers from other leading alternative credit providers across the US to discuss the state of real estate debt across the United States.
US private lenders eye real estate opportunities as activity ramps up
With banks likely to remain on the sidelines amid regulatory changes, participants in PERE’s US debt roundtable anticipate openings to deploy capital both in refinancing and new acquisitions, Stuart Watson reports.
Over the past 18 months higher interest rates, uncertainty about property values, and questions over secular shifts in demand for some asset classes have combined to suppress activity in US commercial real estate lending markets. Meanwhile both money center and regional banks have scaled back activity in the face of concerns over the health of their balance sheets, and the expected introduction of stricter capital requirements aimed at reducing liquidity risk.
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This article first appeared in the August 2024 edition of IPE Real Assets
With increasing regulations and more investors embedding sustainability goals into their investments, incorporating green targets into the debt component of the capital structure is becoming more common. As a result, the debt market across Europe is becoming a two-tiered market, with more green loans being issued at the same time as overall lending volumes have declined.
In this guest article for IPE Real Assets, Dave White discussed the growing appetite for these loans across Europe, and how both lenders and investors are responding to this changing landscape.
At LaSalle, we are often asked what investors in real estate debt and what borrowers of our credit solutions can expect from us.
For investors, knowing that their investment manager has successful, long-term relationships with their borrowers is a strong sign that those interactions will continue, and that attractive investment opportunities will remain available. This dynamic allows us to remain both disciplined and selective in the areas where we choose to invest capital.
For borrowers, recognizing that their credit provider has a wide range of capital solutions, and can offer competitive terms backed by certainty of execution is paramount to our success. Further, this is what drives such a high repeat borrower base and the ability to foster long-term relationships with our borrowers.
As one of the largest providers alterative credit solutions in Europe1, we find ourselves in the enviable position of being able to truly understand how important both borrowers and investors are to the whole equation. This dynamic allows us to remain active investors in this market, highlighting our expertise in the sector.
What can real estate debt investors expect from LaSalle?
What can real estate debt borrowers expect from LaSalle?
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While traditional banks’ appetite for providing commercial real estate loans has declined, other lenders (including investment management firms such as LaSalle) have moved in to fill the funding gap. As a result, we have recently seen increasing interest from institutional investors in real estate debt.
But what is it about real estate debt that makes it a compelling investment? As the second largest of the “four quadrants” of real estate, it has a value in the US and Europe alone of approximately US $4.5 trillion, representing an enormous opportunity. Real estate debt historically has produced competitive risk-adjusted returns in addition to showing low correlation to other assets.
In our latest research, we examine the three-part case for investment, including:
Important notice and disclaimer
This publication does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities or any interests in any investment products advised by, or the advisory services of, LaSalle Investment Management (together with its global investment advisory affiliates, “LaSalle”). This publication has been prepared without regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of recipients and under no circumstances is this publication on its own intended to be, or serve as, investment advice. The discussions set forth in this publication are intended for informational purposes only, do not constitute investment advice and are subject to correction, completion and amendment without notice. Further, nothing herein constitutes legal or tax advice. Prior to making any investment, an investor should consult with its own investment, accounting, legal and tax advisers to independently evaluate the risks, consequences and suitability of that investment.
LaSalle has taken reasonable care to ensure that the information contained in this publication is accurate and has been obtained from reliable sources. Any opinions, forecasts, projections or other statements that are made in this publication are forward-looking statements. Although LaSalle believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, they do involve a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, LaSalle does not make any express or implied representation or warranty, and no responsibility is accepted with respect to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of the facts, opinions, estimates, forecasts, or other information set out in this publication or any further information, written or oral notice, or other document at any time supplied in connection with this publication. LaSalle does not undertake and is under no obligation to update or keep current the information or content contained in this publication for future events. LaSalle does not accept any liability in negligence or otherwise for any loss or damage suffered by any party resulting from reliance on this publication and nothing contained herein shall be relied upon as a promise or guarantee regarding any future events or performance.
By accepting receipt of this publication, the recipient agrees not to distribute, offer or sell this publication or copies of it and agrees not to make use of the publication other than for its own general information purposes.
Copyright © LaSalle Investment Management 2024. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced by any means, whether graphically, electronically, mechanically or otherwise howsoever, including without limitation photocopying and recording on magnetic tape, or included in any information store and/or retrieval system without prior written permission of LaSalle Investment Management.
LaSalle is one of Europe’s largest and most established investors in real estate debt, offering a variety of loan types across sectors. Learn more about this dynamic asset class, and LaSalle’s capabilities from Dave White, Head of European Debt Strategies here at LaSalle.
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Dave White, Head of Real Estate Debt Strategies, Europe discusses the market in 2024 and where we are seeing opportunities for investors.
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London (June 4, 2024) – LaSalle Investment Management, the global real estate investment manager, has provided a loan facility of €150 million through its flagship real estate debt fund, LREDS IV, to refinance a portfolio of 17 big-box logistics assets across Europe owned by Brookfield through its private real estate funds.
Brookfield has partnered with leading development managers Panattoni and Logistik Service to source opportunities, develop and lease the projects. The portfolio includes 17 projects across Sweden, Spain, Germany and Poland, split between six completed projects (five of which are fully let), four in development and seven consented plots. It focuses on grade-A high-specification logistics assets with a typical BREEAM rating of Very Good or Excellent.
David White, Head of LaSalle Real Estate Debt Strategies, said: “Working with a best-in-class sponsor in Brookfield and two top-tier development managers in Panattoni and Logistik Service means our facility is secured against some of the highest-quality assets and projects available in the European logistics market. Our team works to provide bespoke solutions to our borrower’s needs, and we are pleased to support such a high-quality logistics portfolio.”
Rohit Srivastava, Managing Director in Brookfield’s Real Estate Group, added: “We are pleased to work with LaSalle to complete this refinancing, which will support the continued growth of our portfolio of big-box logistics assets. The team were able to provide a bespoke financing package that addressed our requirements.”
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About LaSalle Investment Management | Investing Today. For Tomorrow.
LaSalle Investment Management is one of the world’s leading real estate investment managers. On a global basis, LaSalle manages almost US $87 billion of assets in private and public real estate equity and debt investments as of Q1 2024. LaSalle’s diverse client base includes public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, corporations, endowments and private individuals from across the globe. LaSalle sponsors a complete range of investment vehicles, including separate accounts, open- and closed-end funds, public securities and entity-level investments. For more information, please visit www.lasalle.com, and LinkedIn.
About LaSalle Debt Investments
LaSalle Debt Investments is part of LaSalle’s growing $US 10 billion Debt and Value-Add Strategies platform in Europe and invests in a diverse range of real estate credit solutions – spanning senior loans, whole loans, mezzanine, development finance, corporate finance, NAV facilities and preferred equity – with significant experience across various sectors, geographies, deal sizes and capital structures. Since launching the business line in 2010, LaSalle has been one of Europe’s most active alternative real estate debt providers with a long track record of lending to best-in-class sponsors.
Marketing Disclaimer: This information is based on the market analysis and expectations of LaSalle and should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding LaSalle funds or any issuer or security in particular. The information presented herein is for information purposes only and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy in any jurisdiction where prohibited by law or where contrary to local law or regulation. Any such offer to invest, if made, will only be made to certain qualified investors by means of a private placement memorandum or applicable offering document and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Past performance is not indicative of future results, nor should any statements herein be construed as a prediction or guarantee of future results. Please refer to the offering documents Encore+ for detailed information on the risks, reward and performance information of the Fund.
Over the last several years, we have seen an increase in the number of institutional investors around the world interested in adding real estate debt to their portfolios.1 In some instances, this is to replace an allocation to traditional fixed income, while in others it is both an enhancement and a way to further diversify their current level of real estate holdings.
Real estate debt versus traditional fixed income
Real estate debt differs from traditional fixed income investments in a variety of ways, primarily through collateralization, income generation, differing risk factors, the potential for securitization and its direct relationship to underlying real estate assets. In the same way that investors looking for reliable income streams and relative stability across a number of fixed income products such as government bonds or corporate credit, they can also turn to real estate debt investments.
One key differentiator for the asset class is that it is typically secured by tangible collateral in the form of real estate. Further, real estate credit investments benefit from attractive positions within a capital structure, benefitting from a subordinated first-loss position from equity, and also from negative control structures which give lenders an ability to proactively protect capital in a downside scenario. In contrast, traditional fixed income investments such as corporate or government bonds are usually unsecured and rely solely on the creditworthiness of the issuer.
For many institutional investors, income generation is a key objective and something that real estate debt investments can generate primarily through interest payments on the loan. These interest payments are often higher than on traditional fixed income investments such as sovereign or investment-grade corporate bonds. Additionally, real estate debt may also offer the potential for additional income through loan origination and exit fees, or in some instances, profit participation. Like other investments in any asset class, real estate assets are subject to market fluctuations and economic cycles. There are, however, additional property-specific risks that investors should take into consideration. These include factors such as underlying occupancy and cash-flow drivers as well as capital markets. Investors should also consider the wider macroeconomic and credit-risk considerations that investors in listed fixed income must factor into their decision making. Lending against property embeds the possibility of active takeovers, also known as workouts, requiring hands-on asset management expertise.
In some instances, real estate debt can be securitized, meaning loans are packaged together and sold as securities in the market. This allows investors to gain exposure to real estate debt through mortgage-backed securities (MBS) or collateralized debt obligations (CDOs). Traditional fixed income investments, on the other hand, are typically traded as individual bonds or included in bond funds.
Lastly, real estate debt investments are directly tied to specific properties or real estate platforms. The performance of the underlying property and its cash flows can impact the value of the debt, along with a borrower’s ability to repay it. Traditional fixed income investments are generally linked to the creditworthiness and financial health of the issuer, without a direct connection to specific underlying assets.
So why should institutional investors consider real estate debt?
As with any other asset class, real estate debt has its own unique set of attributes which, as part of a diversified, risk-adjusted portfolio, may provide investors with compelling reasons to include it within their overall strategy.
Key benefits may include:
As always, it’s important that real estate debt, like any other asset class, is considered as a component part of an overall portfolio of investments constructed with the underlying objectives of the investor in mind. When properly integrated into a portfolio, real estate debt investments have the potential to offer institutional investors the opportunity to generate stable income, diversify their portfolios, align their investments with long-term liabilities, protect against inflation, target attractive risk-adjusted returns and, in some cases, adhere to regulatory requirements.
Understanding the capital structure
The term “capital structure” in real estate investment is used to represent layers of debt and equity within an investment structure, each with its own risk-return profile and repayment priority. Investors choose a position in the structure based on risk appetite, desired returns and level of control or ownership in the investment. LaSalle invests across all layers of the capital structure.
Common equity represents an ownership stake of the property. These investors bear the highest risk but also have the potential for the highest returns. They participate in the property’s cash flows and profit distributions only after others have been paid. They have the greatest exposure to the property’s performance and value appreciation but also face the greatest risk during market downturns or property underperformance.
Preferred equity represents a hybrid investment between debt and equity. These investors provide capital to the project but have a higher claim on profits and cash flows than common equity holders. They enjoy a priority in distribution but still hold a subordinate position to debt holders. They often receive a fixed return, similar to interest on debt, and may also have upside potential linked to a property’s appreciation in value.
Mezzanine debt sits between senior debt and equity in the capital structure. Mezzanine lenders provide loans that have secondary priority in terms of repayment but carry a higher risk profile compared to senior debt. As a result, they tend to offer higher interest rates or additional equity-like features to compensate for the increased risk.
Senior debt occupies the most senior position in the capital structure and has the highest priority for repayment in case of default or enforcement. Lenders providing senior loans hold the first lien on the property, meaning they have the first claim to cash flows and proceeds in the event of liquidation and are usually secured by asset level security. Typically, senior debt offers lower yields compared to other subordinated positions within the capital structure due to its lower risk profile.
1 INREV Investment Intentions Survey, 2017 – 2024
This publication does not constitute an offer to sell, or the solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities or any interests in any investment products advised by, or the advisory services of, LaSalle Investment Management (together with its global investment advisory affiliates, “LaSalle”). This publication has been prepared without regard to the specific investment objectives, financial situation or particular needs of recipients and under no circumstances is this publication on its own intended to be, or serve as, investment advice. The discussions set forth in this publication are intended for informational purposes only, do not constitute investment advice and are subject to correction, completion and amendment without notice. Further, nothing herein constitutes legal or tax advice. Prior to making any investment, an investor should consult with its own investment, accounting, legal and tax advisers to independently evaluate the risks, consequences and suitability of that investment. LaSalle has taken reasonable care to ensure that the information contained in this publication is accurate and has been obtained from reliable sources. Any opinions, forecasts, projections or other statements that are made in this publication are forward-looking statements. Although LaSalle believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, they do involve a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, LaSalle does not make any express or implied representation or warranty and no responsibility is accepted with respect to the adequacy, accuracy, completeness or reasonableness of the facts, opinions, estimates, forecasts, or other information set out in this publication or any further information, written or oral notice, or other document at any time supplied in connection with this publication. LaSalle does not undertake and is under no obligation to update or keep current the information or content contained in this publication for future events. LaSalle does not accept any liability in negligence or otherwise for any loss or damage suffered by any party resulting from reliance on this publication and nothing contained herein shall be relied upon as a promise or guarantee regarding any future events or performance. By accepting receipt of this publication, the recipient agrees not to distribute, offer or sell this publication or copies of it and agrees not to make use of the publication other than for its own general information purposes.
Copyright © LaSalle Investment Management 2024. All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced by any means, whether graphically, electronically, mechanically or otherwise howsoever, including without limitation photocopying and recording on magnetic tape, or included in any information store and/or retrieval system without prior written permission of LaSalle Investment Management. GL001731MAY25
This article first appeared in the May 2024 edition of PERE
LaSalle’s Dave White sat down with peers from other leading alternative credit providers across Europe to discuss the state of real estate debt across the continent.
Opportunities are slow to unfold in European real estate debt
A golden era for alternative real estate lenders has so far failed to get underway. But there are signs the machinery is becoming unclogged, writes Judi Seebus
A year ago, alternative real estate lenders in Europe were convinced they were on the cusp of a golden age. During PERE’s European debt roundtable discussion in March 2023, participants spoke of a “huge” opportunity ahead to take advantage of a potential shortfall in refinancing funds for maturing loans amid a potential retrenchment from traditional lending sources. “I have seldom been this excited to be investing in debt,” said one participant.
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This article first appeared in February 2024 edition of the BAI Newsletter
For debt providers, the relative risk adjusted return profile for new real estate credit today is very attractive. Higher interest rates have helped to improve the return profile, and new loan detachment points are generally trending lower, particularly in instances where borrowers are willing to show support for underlying assets and commit additional cash to a transaction.
These attractive fundamentals for lenders were largely in place last year too, however transaction volumes across new acquisitions and refinancings were limited for a variety of reasons. By contrast, in 2024 we expect to see robust demand for debt financing solutions provided by real estate investment funds. This is due to both recent market developments and longer-term structural trends. In the shorter term, borrowers have begun to adapt to a higher cost of financing. This comes as no surprise given the dynamics behind the rapid increase in interest rates that abruptly ended 15 years of historically low rates. With the borrowing market adapting to this new environment, and with interest rates expected to stabilize and start to decline, we have also seen transactions start to move forward at the start of 2024. It is expected that debt will again become a common component of sponsors’ business plans in 2024.
In the longer term, the migration of commercial real estate lending activity away from banks and towards debt funds has been a dominant theme over the past 15 years. The long-running Bayes Business School study of UK CRE lending* found that, in the first half of 2022, debt funds exceeded domestic banks’ new originations for the first time.
Alternative lenders are poised to further expand their market share in the coming years. Bayes Business School estimates demand for real estate finance in Europe at €310 billion per year, and the current stock of outstanding real estate debt at €1.6 trillion. However, as underlying values have declined and loan-to-value ratios (LTVs) are down, traditional lenders may only be willing to advance around €1.3 trillion of the capital necessary to refinance loans maturing through 2027.
Source: MSCI Real Capital Analytics, Bayes Business School, CBRE, JLL, LaSalle (01/24).
Notes: Past performance is not indicative of future results. There is no guarantee that any trends shown herein will continue or that any forecasts shown herein will materialize as expected. Funding gap estimates based on Bayes Business School assessment of debt outstanding and maturing annually, and LaSalle forecasts of capital value change.
Funds will therefore encounter a significant volume of investment as they play an ever-increasing role in addressing the real estate financing gap, created by banks’ ongoing retrenchment and the considerable quantities of debt falling due for refinancing in the short run.
Despite these attractive dynamics for non-bank real estate lenders, this remains a market with potential for real dispersion in performance between fund managers. Delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns for investors will require several crucial ingredients, including having a well-resourced platform across all facets of the business that is established in the market and leveraging analytical tools to negotiate with borrowers.
The benefits of an established market presence and platform
For alternative lenders to remain competitive, they must be able to offer sponsors a wide range of capital solutions. The flexibility afforded by a variety of debt structures should help borrowers transition to a higher-rate environment, allocate risk to where it is most suitably borne and ensure that good-quality properties continue to have access to liquidity.
In other words, both debt funds and borrowers benefit from differentiated pockets of debt capital, ranging from senior lending, whole loans, levered whole loans and mezzanine, including development and refurbishment financing. Borrower demand for bespoke financing solutions makes this an attractive environment in which to be active and to deploy capital across a diverse range of market opportunities.
As a lender, a natural complement to this diversity of investment strategies is a wider geographic scope. The ability to deploy capital across borders and across currencies further enhances funds’ ability to be selective.
Structuring is also critical, particularly when underwriting risk for assets that traditional lenders are less willing to finance. Appropriately managing risk while offering more structured solutions, utilizing a range of protections such as standard loan covenants or business plan targets are all measures that help align interests between borrowers and lenders.
Scalability also plays a critical role in a lender’s ability to remain competitive in today’s environment. – While refinancing needs can be met by more traditional senior-mezzanine lending structures, an increasingly prevalent structure sees a whole loan provided by an alternative lender. The whole loan provider provides a single counterparty and point of contact for a borrower to work with, while allowing for more certainty as well as enhanced control for the lender. This combination of a flexible investment mandate, cross-border presence and a robust approach to underwriting and deal structuring is fundamental to striking the right balance between supporting borrowers and protecting investors’ capital. These attributes will naturally be found in those established players with a proven track record of transacting and who can offer certainty and speed of execution.
Those same funds will also disproportionately be those with access to a wider asset management platform, also to borrowers’ benefit.
Ultimately, a collaborative real estate debt investment manager will not be extending loans with the express intention of eventually taking over or outright owning the assets. But being part of a large platform with asset management capabilities is not just an important safety net in the event that a restructuring and transfer of ownership does take place. It also helps pre-empt and avoid that situation. Drawing on those asset management capabilities means that lenders can identify red flags in a deal early-on, and in turn work with their borrowers and help provide insight into ways to maximise value.
Leveraging wider analytical tools
As detailed in LaSalle’s ISA Outlook 2024, we also believe that, to lend successfully in a challenging market, debt providers need to maintain a targeted approach, effectively sourcing transactions by scrutinising market data and making use of local market presence.
Tapping into a wider pool of analytical tools, data and longer-term outlooks is invaluable when working with borrowers and understanding their commercial horizons. For example, in the absence of comparable transactions to act as reference points for how certain asset valuations have rebased, the ability to conduct price discovery by analysing, understanding, and underwriting fundamentals from the point of view of an equity sponsor is key.
In some instances, fresh borrower equity is required to support elongated business plans. To that end, fostering a good relationship with borrowers by working with their reformulated business plans is fundamental to unlocking the right structured financing solutions, especially in the face of forthcoming debt maturities. In a market impacted by rising interest rates and geopolitical convulsions, finetuning capital requirements quickly can be only undertaken by a real estate manager with the capabilities and resources to conduct that deep analysis.
Good data is also important when seeking to invest across a range of different real estate assets. Currently, lender appetite is focused on sectors with especially strong occupier fundamentals, and their ability both to capture rental growth in line with inflation and to access relatively liquid capital markets. Logistics, residential, student and select operational sectors, such as hospitality, are widely considered to offer resilient fundamentals. This is resulting in a reasonable degree of liquidity for originating new financings in those preferred sectors, but insight remains crucial to picking both markets and sponsors with the capabilities to access such growth. More importantly and particularly in scenarios whereby strong occupational trends are obvious, it is still critical to understand cost structure, and ultimately capital markets in an environment where very little transaction data exists. Access to good quality data is a key component of determining underlying value of an asset in today’s environment.
Outside of those preferred sectors with a more obvious path to cash flow, the traditional sectors of offices and retail have been most challenged. That is especially true for offices outside of prime CBD, whereby a large amount of uncertainty exists, arising from the cloud of uncertainty surrounding future occupier demand and what the impact on capital markets over the long run will be. Data-led insights and a proprietary view on whether, how and where the office market will recover is therefore an important advantage for lenders. For example, ESG credentials are increasingly important as a key determinant of asset performance in the office sector. Wellness, energy efficiency, sustainability accreditations – all of these are metrics that need to be analysed to forecast occupier demand, and in turn, valuation trends.
Opportunities and challenges for 2024
Since the global financial crisis, commercial real estate lending has evolved towards a diverse pool of capital providers which includes both more traditional banks, but also debt funds. In 2024, this trend is expected to continue.
Despite the scope for funds to earn more market share this year, lenders face many potential pitfalls. When it comes to origination, sourcing financing opportunities will require a focus on parts of the market where supply and functionality has lagged societal trends. These situations enable rental growth at or above inflation, aligning with what individual and corporate occupiers want from their spaces. Likewise, credit selection and structuring will require a keen eye on lending basis and coverage levels, alongside the underlying real estate capabilities of the sponsors.
Real estate credit is currently a highly attractive asset class. But to ensure that both fund investors and borrowers are being served well requires a debt platform that can provide a variety of leverage solutions, tap into a rich bank of data/analytics, and draw on insights from a wider bench of real estate specialists, all underpinned by a market-leading team with exceptional borrower relationships. Those are the characteristics that investors and borrowers alike should prioritise in their partners.
*From 2018, The UK Commercial Real Estate (CRE) Lending Survey is based at Bayes Business School, City, University of London. The Survey is a unique and comprehensive record of CRE lending, and an industry standard source of information, regularly referenced in the national financial press and trade publications: https://www.bayes.city.ac.uk/ faculties-and-research/centres/real-estate/bayes-cre-lending-report. Up to 2017, the study was published by De Montfort University, Leicester.
Chase McWhorter, Institutional Real Estate, Inc.’s managing director, Americas, recently spoke with Richard Kleinman, Americas Head of Research and Strategy and co-CIO at LaSalle, to discuss what institutional real estate investors can expect in the new year.
They covered a wide range of topics in their conversation, including the biggest unknowns for 2024, sector outlooks, credit, capital fundraising and key differences between the real estate markets in the US and Canada.
London (November 7, 2023) – Related Argent and joint venture partner Invesco Real Estate have appointed the main contractor and secured the debt finance for the development of Brent Cross Town’s second Build-to-Rent (BtR) building, enabling construction of 286 new homes. Galliford Try will deliver the homes and over 17,000 square feet of amenity and retail space, while the £97 million debt financing is provided by LaSalle Investment Management, further building on the significant momentum at the £8 billion net zero park town in London.
The debt financing takes the form of a Green Loan, lending dedicated to sustainable projects, which is linked to the strong environmental credentials of the building. The building is designed to be supplied with very low carbon heating and cooling from the development’s electric district heating and cooling network, which is being delivered in partnership with Vattenfall. In addition, the building aims to deliver a measurable net gain in biodiversity and to minimise construction waste and embodied carbon through efficient off-site manufacturing. LaSalle Debt Investments’ green loan structures are compliant with the Loan Market Association’s green loan framework. The overall Brent Cross Town development is committed to reaching net zero by 2030.
The announcement demonstrates the significant progress being made at Brent Cross Town. Six buildings are now underway, the first of which will be completed from the end of 2024. In total, over 930 homes, including affordable, market sale and BtR homes are on-site along with 662 student rooms in partnership with Fusion Students. Sheffield Hallam University will open its first satellite campus outside of Yorkshire at Brent Cross Town, and a joint venture between Audley Group and Senior Living Investment Partners (Octopus Real Estate and Pension Investment Corporation) will create a retirement village with around 150 homes.
Brent Cross Town is being delivered in partnership between Related Argent and Barnet Council and will create a total of 6,700 new homes, 3 million square feet of offices, a high street and schools surrounded by 50 acres of parks and playing fields including the new 4.5-acre Claremont Park which was completed last year. The new town will benefit from Brent Cross West station, which will be the first major new mainline station in London in more than a decade when it opens later this year, connecting with King’s Cross St Pancras in as little as 12 minutes.
The new contractor appointment and financing is part of the joint venture between Related Argent and Invesco Real Estate, the global real estate investment manager, formed at the end of 2022 to deliver £600 million of Gross Development Value, including over 800 homes as well as retail by 2025.
Galliford Try, one of the UK’s leading construction groups, is already delivering the first BtR building at Brent Cross Town. Its appointment by the Related Argent and Invesco Real Estate joint venture to deliver the second BtR building comprising 286 homes, a mix of market and discount market rent homes, will bring the total number of BtR homes under construction at Brent Cross Town to 535.
All will be developed and managed by Related Argent, which has just opened a brand-new premium rental development, Author King’s Cross on the King’s Cross estate. Related Argent’s BtR portfolio draws on the established record of Related Companies, which has over 71,000 homes across the United States. Known for its outstanding customer service, Related Companies has decades of proven experience in the sector.
The 286 new homes are designed by Allies & Morrison, with interiors by Conran and Partners, and range from studio to three-bedroom apartments, with block amenities shared with the first BtR building at Brent Cross Town, including a large central lobby with 24-hour concierge, wellness hub, including a gym, fitness studios, 25 meter pool and sauna, work from home spaces, private dining spaces, roof top terraces, podium gardens, guest suites and a cinema.
Tom Goodall, Managing Director of Related Argent, said: “There is strong momentum behind our BtR portfolio with our first rental homes now completed at Author King’s Cross and over 1,000 BtR homes under construction. Our joint venture with Invesco Real Estate at Brent Cross Town and the financing from LaSalle Investment Management is helping meet an increasing gap in the market and addressing the city’s growing demand for high-quality rental properties in vibrant places.”
John German, Managing Director, Residential Investments at Invesco Real Estate, said: “When Invesco and Related Argent closed our Joint Venture in October 2022, we only had one build contract and one loan in place. 12 months later, we now have secured all four build contracts and the necessary loan facilities to enable the project to move forward as we had planned. We are delighted that the Project Team achieved this key milestone which now allows the project to move forward into the delivery stage to enable these assets to be delivered into our investor’s existing BtR Portfolio of just under 1,100 units.”
Robert Fay, Director, Debt Investments at LaSalle Investment Management added: “We are very pleased to work with Related Argent and Invesco Real Estate to provide the debt financing for this project, which brings together market leaders in urban regeneration and best-in-class accommodation in a great location with strong transport links to Central London. The living sector is one of LaSalle’s highest convictions across our European lending and equity strategies. This financing is LaSalle’s 26th development loan made since 2012 and builds on our development lending track record, providing flexible, sustainable loans to high-quality sponsors.”
Bill Hocking, Chief Executive of Galliford Try, said: “We are delighted to be working once again with Related Argent on one of the most significant Build to Rent schemes in London. Our business has a strong track record in producing high-quality residential developments with the sector remaining a key focus for our Building business within our Sustainable Growth Strategy.”
Councillor Ross Houston, Deputy Leader of Barnet Council and Cabinet Member for Homes and Regeneration, said: “Barnet’s new park town has been carefully designed to meet the needs of our residents now and in the future with a range of options including social housing, private sale homes, student accommodation and homes built to rent. I welcome the progress being made on Brent Cross Town’s first new homes that are being built specifically with Barnet renters in mind.”
The BtR offering at Brent Cross Town forms a major part of Related Argent’s portfolio of over 3,000 rental homes alongside King’s Cross and Tottenham Hale. The first residents moved into its first BtR development, Author King’s Cross, in October 2023. Related Argent has plans to expand its rental portfolio beyond the 3,000 homes.
Ends
About LaSalle Investment Management | Investing Today. For Tomorrow.
LaSalle Investment Management is one of the world’s leading real estate investment managers. On a global basis, LaSalle manages approximately $78 billion of assets in private and public real estate property and debt investments as of Q1 2023. LaSalle’s diverse client base includes public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, corporations, endowments and private individuals from across the globe. LaSalle sponsors a complete range of investment vehicles, including separate accounts, open- and closed-end funds, public securities and entity-level investments. For more information, please visit www.lasalle.com, and LinkedIn.
About LaSalle Debt Investments
LaSalle Debt Investments is part of LaSalle’s growing $10bn Debt & Value-Add Strategies platform in Europe and invests in a diverse range of real estate credit products – spanning senior loans, whole loans, mezzanine, development finance, corporate finance, NAV facilities and preferred equity – with significant experience across various sectors, geographies, deal sizes and capital structures. Since launching the business line in 2010, LaSalle has been one of Europe’s most active alternative real estate debt providers with a long track record of lending to best-in-class sponsors.
About Related Argent
In 2015, Argent and Related joined forces to create an unrivalled UK property business and urban regeneration specialist. The company brings together the expertise and track record of Argent – the developer behind some of Britain’s most successful mixed-use places, and Related – one of the most innovative and prolific real estate companies in the US. The combined experience delivering ground-breaking projects such as King’s Cross in London, Hudson Yards and Deutsche Bank Center in New York, Brindleyplace in Birmingham, The Square in West Palm Beach, Florida and The Grand LA in Los Angeles is brought to bear on each of the projects.
Related Argent operates across a range of property sectors including residential, workspace, education, shopping, hospitality and leisure. Its work goes beyond bricks and mortar development. It also specialises in the services, facilities and experiences that are so important to urban life – art, culture, events, schools, skills & training programmes and renewable energy networks.
Related Argent is one of the UK’s leading developer-owner-operators and, since its inception eight years ago, has rapidly grown a £9Bn+, 12m sq ft mixed-use development pipeline. This includes major regeneration projects in London, at Brent Cross Town and Tottenham Hale, as well as a Build-to-Rent (BtR) scheme at King’s Cross, known as ‘Author King’s Cross’. It’s accessing global capital markets to deliver major new projects across the UK and is seeking to expand its BtR housing portfolio. On 1 May 2024, Argent will transfer all employees, projects and assets to Related Argent Limited.
Related Argent’s vision is to be a great city builder – for people, planet, and prosperity and its purpose is to improve urban life for all, everyday. This means developing for the long term – astutely, sustainably and with a sense of social purpose. Related Argent is delivering the places, homes, workspace, public space, arts, culture, events and services that our UK cities and town centres need. www.argentllp.co.uk
About Invesco Real Estate
Invesco Real Estate is a global leader in the real estate investment management business with USD 91.1 billion in real estate assets under management, 586 employees and 21 regional offices across the U.S., Europe and Asia. Invesco Real Estate has a 40-year investment history and has been actively investing across the risk-return spectrum, from core to opportunistic, in equity and debt real estate strategies, and in direct and listed real estate for its c.500 institutional client relationships during this time. In Europe, Invesco Real Estate has eight offices in London, Munich, Milan, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Luxembourg and Warsaw, and 191 employees. It manages 200 assets across 14 European countries and with assets under management of USD 18 billion. Source: Invesco Real Estate as at 31 March 2023.
About Galliford Try
Galliford Try is a trading name of Galliford Try Holdings plc, a leading UK construction group listed on the London Stock Exchange. Operating as Galliford Try and Morrison Construction, the group carries out building and infrastructure projects with clients in the public, private and regulated sectors across the UK.
About Brent Cross Town
Brent Cross Town is the neighbourhood at the heart of the Brent Cross Cricklewood regeneration programme. It is a joint venture between Related Argent and Barnet Council to develop a large-scale mixed-use development including new homes, retail and office space, as well as improved schools and greenspaces in the area. Early work started on site in early 2020 and construction is also underway on the new Brent Cross West station which is due to open later this year. Building on the strengths of this diverse part of the city, Brent Cross Town will draw inspiration from the best of London’s long-established neighbourhoods with all their complexity and character.
At its heart, will be a focus on sport, play, health and well-being. The new neighbourhood will provide 6,700 homes, state-of-the-art workspace for over 25,000 people, and pedestrian friendly streets and squares with local shops and restaurants that will complement the offer at Brent Cross Shopping Centre. The community will be supported by first-class public transport infrastructure, a new and improved network of walking and cycle routes and a series of new parks and other amenities. www.brentcrosstown.co.uk @brentcrosstown
NOTE: This information discussed above is based on the market analysis and expectations of LaSalle and should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding LaSalle funds or any issuer or security in particular. The information presented herein is for illustrative and educational purposes and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy in any jurisdiction where prohibited by law or where contrary to local law or regulation. Any such offer to invest, if made, will only be made to certain qualified investors by means of a private placement memorandum or applicable offering document and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Past performance is not indicative of future results, nor should any statements herein be construed as a prediction or guarantee of future results.
At a recent CREFC Europe event co-hosted by LaSalle and property developer Regal London, representatives from the real estate industry’s leading debt funds, banks, and developers came together to discuss the outlook for European real estate credit markets.
Hosted at LaSalle’s new London offices, the open-forum discussion between all participants covered topics such as the (re)financing environment for borrowers and lenders, where lenders and borrowers see best value and greatest opportunity, and who should assume the responsibility for bearing the costs of delivering sustainable real estate.
A higher interest-rate environment, quick on the heels of the pandemic, makes this an important juncture for participants in this diverse and opaque market to share perspectives. Introducing the session, Dominic Silman, LaSalle’s European Head of Debt and Value-Add Capital Research and Strategy, compared analysing real estate debt markets to the parable of the blind men and the elephant. Each interprets what they can feel, depending on the part of the elephant that they are holding – from snake to tree to fan. Likewise, real estate debt markets are covered by a variety of different data sets which, taken in isolation, can fail to capture the bigger picture.
Some of the megatrends remain readily apparent. The migration of commercial real estate lending activity away from banks and towards debt funds has been a dominant theme over the past 15 years. The long-running Bayes Business School study of UK CRE lending found that, in the first half of last year, debt funds exceeded domestic banks’ new originations for the first time. Funds will continue to play an increasing role in addressing the financing gap created by banks’ ongoing retrenchment and the considerable quantities of debt falling due for refinancing in the next 15 months.
However, it can be a challenging market for funds to negotiate those refinancings. David White, Managing Director in LaSalle’s Debt Investments team, pointed out that over the past 18 months, certain asset valuations have rebased – but it’s not always clear to what level.
Close collaboration between borrowers and lenders is becoming more critical than ever before in order to unlock the right structured financing solutions in the face of forthcoming debt maturities. Lenders need to work closely with sponsors to understand how business plans are evolving in light of the macroeconomic environment.
A lot of what is seen in the market today is focused on sectors with especially strong occupier fundamentals, and their ability both to capture rental growth in line with inflation and to access relatively liquid capital markets. Logistics, residential, student and select operational sectors, such as hospitality, are widely considered to offer resilient fundamentals. Marc Eden, Investment Director at Regal London, spoke of their decision to diversify across the beds sectors, from residential to student with hotels and later living in the mix too. Continuing the earlier theme, Richard Craddock, Managing Director in LaSalle’s Debt Investments team, explained that “elephants are going to the same few watering holes – beds, sheds and, selectively, ‘meds’”.
This is resulting in a reasonable degree of liquidity for originating new financings in those preferred sectors. In that context, a lender’s geographic scope and ability to deploy across borders offers flexibility to be more selective. Debt funds may also benefit from access to differentiated pockets of debt capital, from senior lending to mezzanine debt to development / refurbishment financing. Borrower demand for bespoke financing solutions makes this an attractive environment in which to be active and to deploy a broad range of capital across diverse market opportunities.
Outside of those preferred sectors, the consensus view seemed to be that the traditional sectors of offices and retail were most challenged, particularly for offices outside of Prime CBD where valuations were deemed not to have yet caught up with the cloud of uncertainty surrounding future occupier demand. A few participants with significant exposure to the office sector acknowledged that much of their time was consumed with managing their book. A key takeaway from this part of the conversation was that, regardless of sector, modern real estate is more operational, and lenders look beyond the assets themselves through to the sponsors. As with the period post-GFC, the market will see a flight to quality of assets and sponsors.
The discussion closed with a debate on the willingness of lenders – and their underlying investors – to encourage borrowers to invest in environmental upgrades by offering economic incentives.
The valuation premium for assets with top-performing ESG credentials, particularly in the office sector, is widely understood. Lenders can therefore frame this question from a risk-adjusted return perspective: a greener building makes for better-quality collateral and therefore reduced risk. A similar logic applies at the owner/occupier level. Jonathan Seal, CEO of Regal London explained that in his discussions with potential office occupiers, wellness, energy efficiency and the associated sustainability accreditations were incredibly important to draw people back to the workplace.
However, because of the opaque relationship between a building’s sustainability performance, the costs of refurbishment and the impact on cashflows and valuation, this requires a deep understanding by all parties of real estate fundamentals, asset carbon / ESG performance and how to underwrite specific assets and their associated business plans.
The conversation on ESG highlighted two key inter-linked challenges: metrics and data. There was consensus among participants – borrowers and lenders alike – that assets with better ESG credentials intuitively offer better risk profiles. However, due to the embryonic nature of some metrics and an inconsistency in others as well as lack of transparency in data, especially for social and governance considerations, there was no common language to help differentiate risk and respective margins. This made it difficult to agree on who should provide the financial incentives for the transition of assets.
Overall, the conversation underlined one of the key characteristics of lending markets today. Real estate credit is currently a highly attractive asset class – but it’s only those lenders able to underwrite individual asset-level fundamentals in terms of quality, location and ESG specifications who are best placed to capitalise.
London (10 May 2023) – LaSalle Investment Management (“LaSalle”), the global real estate investment manager, today announces the provision of a fixed-rate green loan facility of £130m to finance Greystar’s acquisition and development of a 770-bed student housing asset in Wembley Park, London.
The loan was provided through LaSalle Debt Investments – one of Europe’s leading alternative real estate lending platforms, established in 2010.
The project is situated within the highly sought-after Wembley regeneration area, an established neighbourhood benefiting from diverse local amenities and facilities. The project benefits from excellent transportation links and is a five-minute walk to Wembley Park station, providing easy access to Central London. It is also well connected to a range of London’s leading 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 sq ft of amenities, including a co-working space, external courtyards and gardens, a gym and bike storage. The development has been designed with state-of-the-art sustainability credentials in mind, aiming to achieve a BREEAM rating of “Excellent” and targeting a ‘Two Star’ Fitwell accreditation.
LaSalle Debt Investments credit strategies include senior loans, whole loans, mezzanine, and development finance. It forms part of LaSalle’s pan-European Debt & Value-Add Strategies platform, which provides debt and equity capital solutions across European markets and sectors.
Ben Mowbray, Senior Director – Investment, Greystar, said: “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.”
About LaSalle Investment Management | Investing Today. For Tomorrow.
LaSalle Investment Management is one of the world’s leading real estate investment managers. On a global basis, LaSalle manages approximately $79 billion of assets in private and public real estate property and debt investments as of Q3 2022. LaSalle’s diverse client base includes public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, corporations, endowments and private individuals from across the globe. LaSalle sponsors a complete range of investment vehicles, including separate accounts, open- and closed-end funds, public securities and entity-level investments. For more information, please visit www.lasalle.com, and LinkedIn.
About LaSalle Debt Investments
LaSalle Debt Investments is part of LaSalle’s growing $10bn Debt & Value-Add Strategies platform in Europe and invests in a diverse range of real estate credit products – spanning senior loans, whole loans, mezzanine, development finance, corporate finance, NAV facilities and preferred equity – with significant experience across various sectors, geographies, deal sizes and capital structures. Since launching the business line in 2010, LaSalle has been one of Europe’s most active alternative real estate debt providers with a long track record of lending to best-in-class sponsors.
About Greystar
Greystar is a leading, fully integrated global real estate company offering expertise in property management, investment management, development, and construction services in institutional-quality rental housing, logistics, and life sciences sectors. Headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, Greystar manages and operates more than $250 billion of real estate in 234 markets globally with offices throughout North America, Europe, South America, and the Asia-Pacific region. Greystar is the largest operator of apartments in the United States, manages more than 817,000 units/beds globally, and has a robust institutional investment management platform comprised of more than $69 billion of assets under management, including over $29 billion of development assets. Greystar was founded by Bob Faith in 1993 to become a provider of world-class service in the rental residential real estate business. To learn more, visit www.greystar.com.
NOTE: This information discussed above is based on the market analysis and expectations of LaSalle and should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding LaSalle funds or any issuer or security in particular. The information presented herein is for illustrative and educational purposes and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy in any jurisdiction where prohibited by law or where contrary to local law or regulation. Any such offer to invest, if made, will only be made to certain qualified investors by means of a private placement memorandum or applicable offering document and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Past performance is not indicative of future results, nor should any statements herein be construed as a prediction or guarantee of future results.
LONDON (11 April 2023) – LaSalle Investment Management (“LaSalle”), the global real estate investment manager, today announces that LaSalle Debt Investments, one of Europe’s largest alternative real estate lending platforms, has expanded its senior-secured debt strategies to include a dedicated sustainable lending focus. In the last year, the platform has provided over €350 million of green loans across Europe.
LaSalle Debt Investments has grown its capacity to support borrowers in retrofitting existing assets to improve their energy performance and fund the construction of the next generation of energy-efficient buildings across the UK and continental Europe.
Recent green loan activity includes a £148m senior facility to support the construction of a PBSA scheme in central London, a £115m development facility to support a multi-asset regional UK PBSA portfolio, and a €40m mezzanine facility to support the retrofit of a Berlin office asset.
LaSalle was recently recognised as ‘ESG Firm of the Year’ in the 2022 PERE Awards, acknowledging the combination of strategic hires, initiatives and deals that embed sustainability as a critical pillar of the firm’s long-term corporate strategy and overall investment philosophy.
Richard Craddock, Managing Director, leading LaSalle’s senior-secured debt strategies, said: “As the drive towards Net Zero Carbon accelerates, we continue to support our European borrowers to deliver high-quality, sustainable accommodation across sectors. Demand for loans to finance green refurbishments and the construction of energy-efficient developments will likely increase as the need to decarbonise gathers further momentum. By adding a dedicated green loan focus to our existing senior-secured strategies, LaSalle is able to provide a crucial source of capital to help reduce European real estate’s carbon footprint.”
LaSalle’s green loan structures are compliant with the Loan Market Association’s green loan framework.
LaSalle Debt Investments has over €1.5bn lending capacity in Europe across its credit strategies, which include senior loans, whole loans, mezzanine, and development finance. It forms part of LaSalle’s pan-European Debt & Value-Add Strategies division, which provides debt and equity capital solutions across European markets and sectors.
About LaSalle Investment Management | Investing Today. For Tomorrow.
LaSalle Investment Management is one of the world’s leading real estate investment managers. On a global basis, LaSalle manages approximately $79 billion of assets in private and public real estate property and debt investments as of Q3 2022. LaSalle’s diverse client base includes public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, corporations, endowments and private individuals from across the globe. LaSalle sponsors a complete range of investment vehicles, including separate accounts, open- and closed-end funds, public securities and entity-level investments. For more information, please visit www.lasalle.com, and LinkedIn.
NOTE: This information discussed above is based on the market analysis and expectations of LaSalle and should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding LaSalle funds or any issuer or security in particular. The information presented herein is for illustrative and educational purposes and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy in any jurisdiction where prohibited by law or where contrary to local law or regulation. Any such offer to invest, if made, will only be made to certain qualified investors by means of a private placement memorandum or applicable offering document and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Past performance is not indicative of future results, nor should any statements herein be construed as a prediction or guarantee of future results.
About LaSalle Debt Investments
LaSalle Debt Investments is part of LaSalle’s growing $10bn Debt & Value-Add Strategies platform in Europe and invests in a diverse range of real estate credit products – spanning senior loans, whole loans, mezzanine, development finance, corporate finance, NAV facilities and preferred equity – with significant experience across various sectors, geographies, deal sizes and capital structures. Since launching the business line in 2010, LaSalle has been one of Europe’s most active alternative real estate debt providers with a long track record of lending to best-in-class sponsors.
Alternative lenders are strongly positioned to make up the continent’s funding shortfall. But raising capital is a major issue, say participants in PERE’s roundtable discussion, as Stuart Watson reports
As the participants meet in late March for PERE’s European debt roundtable, finance is making headlines around the world, and not just on the business pages. A little more than two weeks earlier, the news of tech lender Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse triggered a minor banking crisis. Another US lender, Signature Bank, also folded soon after, forcing regulators to step in to calm the sector. Nonetheless, contagion subsequently spread to Europe, where UBS stepped in to take over stricken fellow Swiss bank Credit Suisse, and a sell-off of shares caused jitters about the future of Germany’s Deutsche Bank.
LaSalle Investment Management (“LaSalle”) has appointed Rosanna Phillips as Managing Director in its Debt Investments team and Kevin Kong as Director of Acquisitions for Value-Add Investments, adding to the continued growth and expansion of LaSalle Debt & Value-Add Strategies in Europe.
Based in London, Rosanna brings extensive legal experience in commercial real estate transactions. Most recently, she was General Counsel at Intriva Capital, an investment firm focused on asset-backed special opportunities in Western Europe. In that role, she was responsible for overseeing legal matters in relation to the business including legal advice, risk evaluation, structuring and execution. Prior to that, Rosanna spent over 10 years at Linklaters, with a particular focus on European real estate finance, and was seconded to LaSalle in that role.
Kevin joins LaSalle with over 12 years of real estate investment experience. Most recently, he served in UBS Asset Management’s Multi-Managers Real Estate group as a Director, where he led coverage of non-fund investments such as JVs, co-investments and fund formations. Prior to this, Kevin spent eight years at Meyer Bergman, most recently as Senior Vice President for acquisitions, where he was responsible for value-add transactions across Europe. Kevin began his career at Citibank London within the EMEA Real Estate & Lodging team.
Michael Zerda, Head of Debt & Value-Add Strategies at LaSalle, said: “The addition of Rosanna and Kevin brings a wealth of experience and market knowledge to our growing business, and we are pleased to welcome them to LaSalle. We are excited to continue to build our European debt and value-add equity investing capabilities as we deliver value for our investors.”
About LaSalle Investment Management
LaSalle Investment Management is one of the world’s leading real estate investment managers. On a global basis, we manage approximately $82 billion of assets in private equity, debt and public real estate investments as of Q2 2022. The firm sponsors a complete range of investment vehicles including open- and closed-end funds, separate accounts and indirect investments. Our diverse client base includes public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, corporations, endowments and private individuals from across the globe. For more information please visit www.lasalle.com and LinkedIn.
NOTE: This information discussed above is based on the market analysis and expectations of LaSalle and should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding LaSalle funds or any issuer or security in particular. The information presented herein is for illustrative and educational purposes and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy in any jurisdiction where prohibited by law or where contrary to local law or regulation. Any such offer to invest, if made, will only be made to certain qualified investors by means of a private placement memorandum or applicable offering document and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Past performance is not indicative of future results, nor should any statements herein be construed as a prediction or guarantee of future results.
LaSalle is pleased to announce the final close for its latest real estate debt fund, LaSalle Real Estate Debt Strategies IV (“LREDS IV” or “the Fund”). LREDS IV has raised €1.1 billion of capital – inclusive of side car commitments currently in closing, exceeding its target capital raise, and making it the largest fund in its flagship European debt fund series. The Fund has attracted commitments from institutional investors, both re-ups and new investors in the series from Europe, Middle East and Asia Pacific.
LREDS IV will be able to provide flexible capital solutions to institutional real estate sponsors across Europe in the form of whole loans and mezzanine debt in all major asset classes and Western European countries. The Fund will be supported by the existing Debt Investments team and two recent key senior hires: David White and Michael Zerda. Michael Zerda is rejoining from Blackstone to oversee LaSalle’s debt and value-add equity strategies in Europe.
The fundraise brings LaSalle’s gross loan origination capacity in Europe to over €4.0 billion across all of its various real estate credit products, which include senior loans, development finance, and preferred equity.
David White, Head of LREDS series at LaSalle said:” We have an exemplary team of lending professionals backed by an impressive track record and strong borrower and bank relationships across Europe. We are well equipped to offer bespoke and creative capital solutions for our borrowers across a wide array of asset classes and jurisdictions.”
Amy Klein Aznar, Executive Chair of Debt & Value-Add Strategies at LaSalle said: “We are pleased to have surpassed our €1bn target raise on LREDS IV which could not come at a better time, having recently strengthened our senior leadership team with Michael Zerda and David White. Our team is very well positioned to invest our significant dry powder across LaSalle’s various real estate credit strategies.”
Michael Zerda, Head of Debt & Value-Add Strategies at LaSalle said: “We are humbled by the support of our investors and excited for the opportunities ahead. This latest fundraise has added to the scale of LaSalle’s real estate credit business, allowing us to engage on a wider range of opportunities across Europe.”
LaSalle’s European Debt Investments platform has a long track record of lending to best-in-class sponsors and has significant experience across various sectors, geographies, deal sizes, and capital structures. Since 2010, the team has invested over €4.0 billion in 89 individual transactions with a gross value in excess of €22 billion as of September 2021.
About LaSalle Investment Management
LaSalle Investment Management is one of the world’s leading real estate investment managers. On a global basis, we manage approximately $77 billion of assets in private equity, debt and public real estate investments as of Q4 2021. The firm sponsors a complete range of investment vehicles including open- and closed-end funds, separate accounts and indirect investments. Our diverse client base includes public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, corporations, endowments and private individuals from across the globe. For more information please visit www.lasalle.com and LinkedIn.
NOTE: This information discussed above is based on the market analysis and expectations of LaSalle and should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding LaSalle funds or any issuer or security in particular. The information presented herein is for illustrative and educational purposes and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy in any jurisdiction where prohibited by law or where contrary to local law or regulation. Any such offer to invest, if made, will only be made to certain qualified investors by means of a private placement memorandum or applicable offering document and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Past performance is not indicative of future results, nor should any statements herein be construed as a prediction or guarantee of future results.
LaSalle is pleased to announce that Michael Zerda will be rejoining the firm to head up its market-leading Debt & Special Situations platform and value-add equity strategies, spearheading higher return investment initiatives. Michael will work closely with Amy Klein Aznar, who will transition to the role of Executive Chair of Debt & Special Situations later this year.
Later in the year Michael Zerda will become the Head of Debt and Special Situations, overseeing its existing multi-strategy debt business of over 30 professionals, and spanning senior debt, mezzanine, and high yield strategies, as well as growing its special situations and value-add equity strategies. Michael brings a 20-plus year track record of equity and debt investing in European real estate. He was most recently Head of Europe for Blackstone’s Real Estate Debt Strategies (BREDS).
Amy Klein Aznar will become the Executive Chair of LaSalle’s Debt and Special Situations platform. In her new role, Amy will remain closely involved in investment strategy and decision making, client relationships and communication, and will serve on the Debt and Special Situations Investment Committee. She will also continue to meaningfully co-invest in current and future investment vehicles. Amy’s decision to move to the role of Executive Chair will reduce her day-to-day responsibilities and enable her to devote more time to her family’s business interests.
Amy and Michael worked together from 2009 to 2016 while building the Debt and Special Situations at LaSalle and have a long-term business and working relationship, spanning 17 years. The move comes at a time of significant growth for the platform and continued strong investment performance across its multiple business lines. Since inception, LaSalle’s Debt and Special Situations team has raised nearly €6bn, with the fourth fund in the flagship European real estate mezzanine series, LREDS IV, expected to hold its next closing at c.€900m and is on track to exceed its €1bn fund raise target.
Amy Klein Aznar, the incoming Executive Chair of European Debt & Special Situations at LaSalle, said, “I am thrilled that Michael is returning to the business that we started together over ten years ago. I look forward to working together again with Michael and the existing senior team and to my continuing involvement as Executive Chair of Debt and Special Situations.”
Michael Zerda, the incoming Head of European Debt & Special Situations at LaSalle said, “The growth, scope, and scale of the platform is testament to the quality of the team, its investment discipline, and Amy’s leadership since its inception over ten years ago. I am excited to work with the team to help them deploy existing capital and see terrific opportunities ahead as we grow the special situations and value-add equity strategies.”
Philip La Pierre, Head of and CIO of Europe at LaSalle, said, “We are delighted to welcome Michael back to LaSalle. He will be fully supported by his strong senior leadership team including Richard Craddock as well as the wider European LaSalle Business. The combination of this leadership, and Amy’s continued involvement in the business, is ideal to continue the exciting growth of the platform. Building out special situations and higher-return equity strategies is a natural evolution of the business and we are confident in Michael and Amy’s ability to lead that expansion through their almost two decades of working together across debt and equity.”
About LaSalle Investment Management
LaSalle Investment Management is one of the world’s leading real estate investment managers. On a global basis, we manage approximately $77 billion of assets in private equity, debt and public real estate investments as of Q4 2021. The firm sponsors a complete range of investment vehicles including open- and closed-end funds, separate accounts and indirect investments. Our diverse client base includes public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, corporations, endowments and private individuals from across the globe. For more information please visit www.lasalle.com and LinkedIn.
NOTE: This information discussed above is based on the market analysis and expectations of LaSalle and should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding LaSalle funds or any issuer or security in particular. The information presented herein is for illustrative and educational purposes and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy in any jurisdiction where prohibited by law or where contrary to local law or regulation. Any such offer to invest, if made, will only be made to certain qualified investors by means of a private placement memorandum or applicable offering document and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Past performance is not indicative of future results, nor should any statements herein be construed as a prediction or guarantee of future results.
LaSalle is pleased to announce the first close for LaSalle Real Estate Debt Strategies IV (“LREDS IV”), the fourth fund in its flagship LaSalle Real Estate Debt Strategies series (“LREDS”), with €435 million of aggregate commitments. This strong first close puts the Fund on target for achieving a capital raise of €1 billion.
The commitments, originating from both existing and new clients to the LREDS series, come from a broad range of pension funds and insurance companies across Europe and Asia.
LREDS IV’s investment strategy focuses on mezzanine debt investments secured on real estate across Western Europe with a focus on Germany, Netherlands, UK, France and Spain offering compelling risk-adjusted returns with downside protection and high cash-on-cash yields.
In addition to mezzanine debt investments, LREDS IV offers whole loans, capex and development financing solutions. LaSalle’s European Debt & Special Situations platform has been investing across both the traditional asset classes such as office, logistics and residential, as well as alternative asset classes such as student housing and self-storage.
The Debt Investments & Special Situations team has a strong track record of developing strategic relationships with best-in-class borrowers, and has significant experience across various sectors, geographies, deal sizes, and capital structures. Since 2010, the platform has committed €3.4 billion to investments across 78 individual transactions.
Amy Klein Aznar, Head of Debt & Special Situations for LaSalle Investment Management, added: “I am delighted with the launch of the latest fund in our flagship LREDS series, where we have an exceptionally strong track record over the last decade. The team has already completed several debt investments this year, working with strong sponsors and senior banking partners across Europe, which has reinforced our position as a leading debt provider in the market.”
The launch of LREDS IV is also complementary to other funds within LaSalle’s European Debt & Special Situations platform which offers wide ranging financing solutions. This includes the €900 million LaSalle Whole Loan Strategies offering whole loans across Western Europe, the €1.5 billion LaSalle Residential Finance series offering residential, student housing, hotel, and healthcare development lending, and the £225 million Special Situations Venture which invests alongside sponsors via inter alia preferred equity, joint-venture equity, higher leverage mezzanine.
About LaSalle Investment Management
LaSalle Investment Management is one of the world’s leading real estate investment managers. On a global basis, we manage approximately $77 billion of assets in private equity, debt and public real estate investments as of Q4 2021. The firm sponsors a complete range of investment vehicles including open- and closed-end funds, separate accounts and indirect investments. Our diverse client base includes public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, corporations, endowments and private individuals from across the globe. For more information please visit www.lasalle.com and LinkedIn.
NOTE: This information discussed above is based on the market analysis and expectations of LaSalle and should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding LaSalle funds or any issuer or security in particular. The information presented herein is for illustrative and educational purposes and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy in any jurisdiction where prohibited by law or where contrary to local law or regulation. Any such offer to invest, if made, will only be made to certain qualified investors by means of a private placement memorandum or applicable offering document and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Past performance is not indicative of future results, nor should any statements herein be construed as a prediction or guarantee of future results.
LaSalle Investment Management (“LaSalle”), the global real estate investment manager, today announces the provision of a £106 million loan facility to finance the development of two retirement villages in the South of England. The development loan has been extended from the LaSalle Residential Finance (“LRF”) programme to a recently formed joint venture between Audley Group (“Audley”), the UK luxury retirement village provider, and the UK Retirement Living Fund, which is managed by Schroders Real Estate, the investment manager, and Octopus Real Estate, the UK specialist real estate lender and investor.
The facility is secured against two luxury retirement villages to be developed by the joint venture and operated by Audley in Stanbridge Earls in Romsey, Hampshire, and Sunningdale Park in Sunningdale, Berkshire. Together the two villages will comprise over 250 for-sale residential units for over-65s and high-quality amenities. As demographic change drives increased demand for purpose-built retirement community real estate for the UK’s active adult population, the two schemes will address the significant undersupply within the affluent markets of Romsey and Sunningdale.
The financing of the two developments follows the announcement in August 2019 that Audley Group has formed a joint venture with the UK Retirement Living Fund, managed by Schroders Real Estate and Octopus Real Estate, to develop four sector-leading retirement villages with over 500 units in total, representing a total value of around £400 million.
Daniel Pottorff, Managing Director of Debt Investments and Special Situations at LaSalle Investment Management, said: “We are delighted to have provided this financing solution to the joint venture which further strengthens our relationship with the Audley team, having extended a loan from the LRF programme to the Group in 2017 for an urban retirement scheme in Clapham, London. This investment exemplifies our strategy of investing in demographically compelling segments of the residential market.”
The loan follows an extension of the successful LaSalle Residential Finance programme by a further £476m capital commitment, increasing the total size of the LRF programme (established in 2013) to £1.3 billion. LRF provides stretch senior and higher-leverage financing solutions for developments at loan-to-cost ratios of up to 80 per cent, with loans ranging from £20 million to in excess of £150 million. LRF’s current development lending activities focus on student housing, residential, hotel and healthcare development lending throughout the UK as well as student housing in Europe.
Amy Klein Aznar, Head of Debt Investments and Special Situations at LaSalle Investment Management, said: “We are excited to have further extended the LRF programme which continues to be backed by main investor APG. LRF focuses on bed-based investments and, in particular, on specific segments such as senior living and build to rent which remain structurally undersupplied. This is another example of our strategy of lending to market-leading sponsors to finance the development of best-in-class assets and marks the 15th debt investment completed on behalf of the LRF programme.”
Jon Austen, Chief Financial Officer at Audley Group, said: “We have a long-established track record of developing and operating retirement villages. Our JV structure with the UK Retirement Living Fund, managed by Schroders and Octopus Real Estate, allows us to execute our model in a less capital-intensive way while maintaining our first-class offering which the market continues to demand. We are pleased with the extension of this finance arrangement which reflects the strong growth in our sector.”
The LaSalle Debt Investments & Special Situations team has a strong track record of developing strategic relationships with best-in-class borrowers, and has significant experience across various sectors, geographies, deal sizes and capital structures. Since 2010, the team has arranged approximately €4 billion of investments across more than 75 individual transactions.
About LaSalle Investment Management
LaSalle Investment Management is one of the world’s leading real estate investment managers. On a global basis, we manage approximately $77 billion of assets in private equity, debt and public real estate investments as of Q4 2021. The firm sponsors a complete range of investment vehicles including open- and closed-end funds, separate accounts and indirect investments. Our diverse client base includes public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, corporations, endowments and private individuals from across the globe. For more information please visit www.lasalle.com and LinkedIn.
NOTE: This information discussed above is based on the market analysis and expectations of LaSalle and should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding LaSalle funds or any issuer or security in particular. The information presented herein is for illustrative and educational purposes and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy in any jurisdiction where prohibited by law or where contrary to local law or regulation. Any such offer to invest, if made, will only be made to certain qualified investors by means of a private placement memorandum or applicable offering document and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Past performance is not indicative of future results, nor should any statements herein be construed as a prediction or guarantee of future results.
LaSalle Investment Management (“LaSalle” or “the company”) today announced it has renamed its U.S. debt fund platform to LaSalle Debt Investors (“LDI”). LaSalle completed the acquisition of LDI’s $1.2 billion debt fund business, known previously as Latitude Management Real Estate Investors, in January 2019.
Following a successful integration into LaSalle’s Americas business in 2019, LDI continues to execute its strategy of originating new bridge loans for value-add and transitional properties in sustainable growth markets throughout the United States.
LDI has managed a series of commingled debt funds, the fourth and most recent having a total equity raised of approximately $480 million. LDI’s cycle-tested management team and vertically integrated platform has supported LDI’s ability to close over $4.5 billion in transactions across all primary commercial real estate property types. LaSalle Debt Investors seeks to generate favorable risk-adjusted returns for investors by targeting middle market bridge loans to experienced sponsors with business plans that generate increasing operating income through value-add capital improvements, leasing strategies, and active asset management.
About LaSalle Investment Management
LaSalle Investment Management is one of the world’s leading real estate investment managers. On a global basis, we manage approximately $77 billion of assets in private equity, debt and public real estate investments as of Q4 2021. The firm sponsors a complete range of investment vehicles including open- and closed-end funds, separate accounts and indirect investments. Our diverse client base includes public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, corporations, endowments and private individuals from across the globe. For more information please visit www.lasalle.com and LinkedIn.
NOTE: This information discussed above is based on the market analysis and expectations of LaSalle and should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding LaSalle funds or any issuer or security in particular. The information presented herein is for illustrative and educational purposes and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy in any jurisdiction where prohibited by law or where contrary to local law or regulation. Any such offer to invest, if made, will only be made to certain qualified investors by means of a private placement memorandum or applicable offering document and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Past performance is not indicative of future results, nor should any statements herein be construed as a prediction or guarantee of future results.
LaSalle Investment Management (“LaSalle”), the global real estate investment manager, is pleased to announce that it has arranged over €200 million of mezzanine loans to refinance three portfolios of last mile logistics and industrial assets for real estate funds advised by Blackstone. The portfolios include 264 assets located in key urban locations throughout Germany, Netherlands, France and Denmark.
The deals are part of the latest fund in the LaSalle Real Estate Debt Strategies programme, LREDS III, which raised over £800 million of commitments in 2017. Through the LREDS III fund, LaSalle’s Debt Investments and Special Situations team invests across Western Europe, lending against assets which offer compelling risk-adjusted returns across mezzanine and whole loan investment opportunities. LREDS III is ahead in terms of its deployment schedule, having committed to over £360 million of loans to date in 2019. This accelerates the fundraising for the successor fund in the series, LREDS IV, which has a target capital raise of €1 billion and is set to launch later this year.
Ali Imraan, Managing Director, Debt Investments & Special Situations at LaSalle said: “We’re delighted to provide financing to Blackstone in the build-up of their strategic European last mile logistics portfolio, Mileway. These three mezzanine loans follow on from two previous financings of the same strategy that we have done for Blackstone in 2018 in the UK, Germany and Netherlands. It also undelines our ability to underwrite large pan-European portfolios, leveraging the breadth of our European business.”
Amy Klein Aznar, Head of Debt Investments & Special Situations at LaSalle said: “We have been large and consistent providers of debt in the European Logistic space and these latest investments are a continuation of our support for Blackstone, which started with the build-up of the Logicor logistics portfolio in 2012.
Overall, we have arranged over £700 million of financings over the past several years in European Logistics for our LREDS and Whole Loan series across all major Western European countries.”
The Debt Investments & Special Situations team has a strong track record of developing strategic relationships with best-in-class borrowers, and has significant experience across various sectors, geographies, deal sizes, and capital structures. Since 2010, the team has committed €3.6 billion of investments across 72 individual transactions.
LaSalle’s European debt series also includes the €1 billion LaSalle Residential Finance series (LRF III) which is active in residential, student housing, hotel, and healthcare development lending, throughout Western Europe and the UK and the €600 million LaSalle Whole Loan Strategies programme, launched in December 2018, whose strategy is to originate and hold whole loans with loan-to-values ranging from 70 per cent up to c.80 per cent across various asset types, and targets financings between €25 million and €100 million plus.
Eastdil acted as Debt Advisor to Blackstone.
About LaSalle Investment Management
LaSalle Investment Management is one of the world’s leading real estate investment managers. On a global basis, we manage approximately $77 billion of assets in private equity, debt and public real estate investments as of Q4 2021. The firm sponsors a complete range of investment vehicles including open- and closed-end funds, separate accounts and indirect investments. Our diverse client base includes public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, corporations, endowments and private individuals from across the globe. For more information please visit www.lasalle.com and LinkedIn.
NOTE: This information discussed above is based on the market analysis and expectations of LaSalle and should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding LaSalle funds or any issuer or security in particular. The information presented herein is for illustrative and educational purposes and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy in any jurisdiction where prohibited by law or where contrary to local law or regulation. Any such offer to invest, if made, will only be made to certain qualified investors by means of a private placement memorandum or applicable offering document and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Past performance is not indicative of future results, nor should any statements herein be construed as a prediction or guarantee of future results.
LaSalle is pleased to announce that it has arranged a whole loan, to finance Blackstone’s acquisition of Tarraco Tower, a high-quality office property in Central Barcelona, Spain.
The deal is part of the LaSalle Whole Loan Strategies programme, which had its first close in December 2018, and now stands at €600m+ of commitments. The programme’s strategy is to originate and hold whole loans with loan-to-values ranging from 70 per cent up to c.80 per cent across various asset types, and targets financings between €25 million and €100 million plus.
The LaSalle debt series also includes LREDS III, the £804m fund, which invests across Western Europe and the UK, offering mezzanine and whole loan investment opportunities, and the c.€1 billion LaSalle Residential Finance series (LRF III) which is active in residential, student housing, hotel, and healthcare development lending, throughout Western Europe and the UK.
Amy Klein Aznar, Head of Debt Investments & Special Situations at LaSalle said: “We are pleased to be able to support Blackstone again, this time with our whole loan strategy on the Continent, where we continue to see opportunities and are able to offer sponsors a full range of debt solutions. The programme closed its first financing in December 2018, and currently totals five closed investments across Europe, equating to nearly 40 per cent of capital deployed.”
Ali Imraan, Managing Director of Debt Investments & Special Situations at LaSalle said: “This transaction was closed in under a month, demonstrating our ability to execute in tight timelines and tap into our extensive pan-European real estate platform. We are happy to support Blackstone in acquiring this high-quality office asset in one of Europe’s most dynamic cities, and also with the implementation of their refurbishment plans for the asset.”
LaSalle’s Debt Investments & Special Situations team has a strong track record of developing strategic relationships with best-in-class borrowers, and has significant experience across various sectors, geographies, deal sizes, and capital structures. Since 2010, the team has committed €3.5 billion of investments across 70 individual transactions.
About LaSalle Investment Management
LaSalle Investment Management is one of the world’s leading real estate investment managers. On a global basis, we manage approximately $77 billion of assets in private equity, debt and public real estate investments as of Q4 2021. The firm sponsors a complete range of investment vehicles including open- and closed-end funds, separate accounts and indirect investments. Our diverse client base includes public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, corporations, endowments and private individuals from across the globe. For more information please visit www.lasalle.com and LinkedIn.
NOTE: This information discussed above is based on the market analysis and expectations of LaSalle and should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding LaSalle funds or any issuer or security in particular. The information presented herein is for illustrative and educational purposes and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy in any jurisdiction where prohibited by law or where contrary to local law or regulation. Any such offer to invest, if made, will only be made to certain qualified investors by means of a private placement memorandum or applicable offering document and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Past performance is not indicative of future results, nor should any statements herein be construed as a prediction or guarantee of future results.
LaSalle Investment Management (“LaSalle”), the global real estate investment manager, is pleased to announce that it has provided a senior loan facility to the Manhattan Loft Corporation to finance Manhattan Loft Gardens, a high-rise tower in Stratford, from the LaSalle Real Estate Debt Strategies III (“LREDS III”) fund.
Situated between the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and Stratford International Station, Manhattan Loft Gardens is a fully glazed, 42-floor residential tower, incorporating both residential and hotel uses and comprising three sky gardens and a level of amenities surpassing any existing residential scheme in Stratford. The property’s unique double-cantilevered structure was designed by SOM, the world-renowned high-rise architects.
The hotel, which is operated under “The Stratford” brand, is located between the ground and seventh floors and comprises of 146 rooms. The residential scheme provides 248 high-specification residential units, predominantly one- and two-bedroom flats, situated between the eighth and forty-first floors. All residents will benefit from the hotel facilities and services, including a fully equipped gym and dry spa.
Daniel Pottorff, Managing Director of Debt Investments and Special Situations at LaSalle, said: “We’re delighted to have provided a financing solution to Manhattan Loft Corporation for one of London’s most innovative and unique new-build residential towers, extending our track record of lending against quality assets with best-in-class sponsors.”
Amy Klein Aznar, Head of Debt Investments and Special Situations at LaSalle, added: “We have been large and consistent financiers in UK residential and our Manhattan Loft Gardens financing is in line with our residential debt investment strategy focused on urban growth areas near transportation nodes. Previously we have lent on projects such as the nearly-completed City North Development on Finsbury Park tube station, by Telford Homes and Business Design Group, and we have financed over £650million over the past several years in UK residential across our LREDs and LRF series. This loan represents the 15th deal completed by LREDS III since 2017 and, with transactions in documentation, will bring deployment to c.90 per cent of commitments.”
Through the LREDS III fund, LaSalle’s Debt Investments and Special Situations team invests across Western Europe lending against assets that offer compelling risk-adjusted returns across mezzanine and whole loan investment opportunities. The fund closed in late 2017 and attracted a diverse mix of investors from Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the United States.
About LaSalle Investment Management
LaSalle Investment Management is one of the world’s leading real estate investment managers. On a global basis, we manage approximately $77 billion of assets in private equity, debt and public real estate investments as of Q4 2021. The firm sponsors a complete range of investment vehicles including open- and closed-end funds, separate accounts and indirect investments. Our diverse client base includes public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, corporations, endowments and private individuals from across the globe. For more information please visit www.lasalle.com and LinkedIn.
NOTE: This information discussed above is based on the market analysis and expectations of LaSalle and should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding LaSalle funds or any issuer or security in particular. The information presented herein is for illustrative and educational purposes and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy in any jurisdiction where prohibited by law or where contrary to local law or regulation. Any such offer to invest, if made, will only be made to certain qualified investors by means of a private placement memorandum or applicable offering document and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Past performance is not indicative of future results, nor should any statements herein be construed as a prediction or guarantee of future results.
LaSalle Investment Management (“LaSalle”), the global real estate investment manager, today announces that it has extended its first development loan of €20.5 million from the expanded LaSalle Residential Finance Europe programme (“LRF”) to Amro Real Estate Partners. The development is a 360-bed purpose-built student accommodation in Granada and the proposed scheme will be approx. 10,495sqm across two buildings. In addition, the scheme will provide desirable and high-quality amenities such as a swimming pool, a multi-sport court, cinema room and study library.
The loan has been extended from LRF following on from its recent expansion into Continental Europe. Together with additional capital raised, it increases the total size of the LRF programme (established in 2013) to £845 million. LRF provides stretch senior and higher-leverage financing solutions for developments at loan-to-cost ratios of up to 80 per cent, with loans ranging from €20 million to in excess of €100 million. The expansion into Continental Europe will provide loans primarily for the development of student accommodation. This is in addition to LRF’s current development lending activities in student housing, residential, hotel and healthcare development lending throughout the UK.
LaSalle’s Debt & Special Situations business provides its borrowers a wide range of financing solutions by actively investing through its four strategies: LREDS III, LRF III, LWLS I/II and Special Sits. These debt products include whole loans, mezzanine, development financing, stretched senior loans, preferred / joint venture equity in the UK and Western Europe. The LRF programme is complementary to LaSalle’s LREDS series; the third fund in this series closed at the end of 2017 with aggregate commitments of £804 million. LREDS III invests across Western Europe, lending against quality assets with best-in-class sponsors; the combination of which offers compelling risk adjusted returns across mezzanine and whole loan investment opportunities. LWLS I/II, with EUR600m of commitments, invests in whole loans across Western Europe.
The team has previously invested over £400m in student accommodation lending across its strategies. Highlights include:
LaSalle has been very active in the Spanish market where Spanish banks have been constrained with their lending and LaSalle has extensive knowledge of student housing as an asset class. As a result, the LRF programme, which offers stretch senior loans up to 80% LTC, provides an accretive solution for developers.
Amy Klein Aznar, Head of Debt Investments & Special Situations at LaSalle Investment Management said: “We are very happy to be expanding the LRF programme to Continental Europe given the programme’s success in the UK. The loan that we have extended in Granada is an excellent example of the type of student housing development that we find compelling and which meets the needs of students today. Over the past several years, our team has invested more than £400m in student housing and this remains a core sector for our debt investment activities. The team has already completed other student housing development and investment facilities in Continental Europe and we continue to see strong borrower demand. The new commitment to Continental Europe will allow the LRF programme to consolidate its position as a European market leader in debt investment for bed-based sectors like student accommodation and residential.”
LaSalle’s Debt and Special Situations team has a strong track record of developing strategic relationships with best-in-class borrowers and has significant experience across various sectors, geographies, deal sizes, and capital structures. Since 2010, the team has committed £3.4 billion of investments in over 67 individual transactions and secured against £13 billion of real estate.
About LaSalle Investment Management
LaSalle Investment Management is one of the world’s leading real estate investment managers. On a global basis, we manage approximately $77 billion of assets in private equity, debt and public real estate investments as of Q4 2021. The firm sponsors a complete range of investment vehicles including open- and closed-end funds, separate accounts and indirect investments. Our diverse client base includes public and private pension funds, insurance companies, governments, corporations, endowments and private individuals from across the globe. For more information please visit www.lasalle.com and LinkedIn.
NOTE: This information discussed above is based on the market analysis and expectations of LaSalle and should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding LaSalle funds or any issuer or security in particular. The information presented herein is for illustrative and educational purposes and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy in any jurisdiction where prohibited by law or where contrary to local law or regulation. Any such offer to invest, if made, will only be made to certain qualified investors by means of a private placement memorandum or applicable offering document and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Past performance is not indicative of future results, nor should any statements herein be construed as a prediction or guarantee of future results.
