Property developer Evia, Metro snag S$296m green loan for Tampines office towers

PRIVATELY-HELD Evia Real Estate Management and listed Metro Holdings have secured a $296.3 million four-year green loan to finance partially their 50:50 acquisition of a pair of Grade-A eco-friendly office towers, 7 & 9 Tampines Grande Singapore.

This is the first green debt instrument secured by the Singapore-based property developer and institutional fund manager.

The green loan was granted to an Evia-managed investment company and its partner Metro Holdings. Evia's co-investors include Malaysia-listed property developer Amcorp Properties, it said on Tuesday.

OCBC was the sole green loan adviser and, together with DBS, acted as joint green coordinators for the loan.

Acquired this April for S$395 million, the pair of office towers in Tampines is a 99-year leasehold commercial development with a net lettable area of about 287,596 square feet, including retail outlets on the ground floor.

In terms of sustainability certifications, the development was awarded the Green Mark Platinum rating from the Singapore Building and Construction Authority (BCA) and the LEED Gold certificate from the US Green Building Council. It also received the BCA Green Mark Pearl Prestige Award in 2016 which recognises the owners' efforts to engage tenants to show environmental leadership.

Leslie Lim, Evia's managing partner, said: "Our aim is to partner major financial institutions to co-invest in bigger projects. More than pure financial returns, our focus is on the environment and sustainability."

The borrower, T-Grande Property Holding, has prepared a green loan framework to outline the criteria and guidelines to allocate the loan proceeds in line with the Green Loan Principles (2018) by the Loan Market Association and the Asia Pacific Loan Market Association.

Evia's portfolio comprises gross assets exceeding S$4.6 billion in Singapore and South Korea. Its main sources of funds are notable institutional investors from endowments, global fund of funds, insurance, asset management companies and leading family offices.