HB Reavis secures the largest ever funding in Poland for its landmark project Varso Place
A syndicate of four banks granted HB Reavis a loan for refinancing the Varso Place project, a mixed-use scheme in central Warsaw. The total amount of €475m makes it the largest non-portfolio loan in the history of the commercial real estate market in Poland and one of the biggest in Central and Eastern Europe (and the biggest in HB Reavis’s history.) The last stage of Varso Place, Varso Tower, was delivered in 2022.
Varso Place was built next to the Warsaw Central Station. The three buildings offer a total of 144,000 sq m of leasable space, including offices, a hotel, an innovation hub and retail units. What sets the project apart is the 310-metre Varso Tower designed by Foster + Partners. Certified against the BREEAM (Outstanding) and WELL (Gold) schemes, the Varso Place buildings have won many accolades for the best commercial real estate project in Poland and Central Europe, including the “Office Building of the Year”.
Its location, quality and occupancy rate were once more recognised by the banking syndicate of Santander Bank Polska as Agent and Underwriter (€165m), Bank Pekao as Security Agent (€85m), and Helaba and Berlin Hyp as Original Lenders (€125m and €100m, respectively), which granted HB Reavis additional funding for the project, increasing the original €350m loan to €475m.
“Once again, the loan for Varso Place confirms our strong position on the European real estate market. In such demanding times, we remain a stable and reliable partner for the leading financial institutions within the region. This is a good prognosis before the start of the new projects we are planning in key markets in Poland, the UK and Germany. We are convinced that, like Varso Place, they will be first-class investments and market benchmarks in terms of quality, sustainable solutions and tenant portfolios,” says Peter Pecnik, CFO of HB Reavis.
HB Reavis was advised by Dentons, and DLA Piper advised the bank syndicate. Arcadis served as the technical advisor.