UK: Scape Living Plc, a UK REIT active in the coliving and PSA segments, has closed a green financing agreement with German lender Aareal Bank.
Scape, which is owned by Dutch pension fund manager APG Asset Management, will use the loan to refinance an existing Aareal loan on the Scape Mile End Canalside in London, as well as the financing of three additional Scape properties in Wembley and Guildford.
The buildings were assessed under Aareal’s Green Finance Framework, a third-party certified model that serves as a basis for future green lending offers and aligns the bank’s credit portfolio towards sustainable criteria.
Michelle Weiss, head of hotel properties at Aareal Bank, said: “Purpose-built student accommodation is a fast-growing sector in which we have been keenly growing over the past years. We are very pleased to continue our collaboration with an investor and operator as active and reputable in this space as APG and Scape, and we look forward to more of such opportunities to expand our student accommodation loan portfolio.”
The four-property, 1,488-bed Scape portfolio is within a short commute to key universities in their respective cities including University College London (UCL), Queen Mary University and the University of Surrey. The additional assets had been acquired in 2021 by APG-backed Scape Living Plc and will retain Scape UK Management Limited as property manager.
APG is one of the world’s largest pension investors with approximately €627 billion of assets under management. Globally, Scape currently has more than 33,000 beds in operation or construction in Australia, Ireland, the UK and USA.
