Partners Group is seeking £150m of new finance for the speculative development of 80 Fenchurch Street, EC3.
The private investment company has approached a number of specialist lenders about the deal, which would be one of the largest refinancing packages for a speculative office development in recent months.
The loan, if completed, would be at around 50% of the scheme’s latest valuation, which is now estimated at £300m on completion.
Even with a relatively low loan-to-value ratio and the location of the asset in the City of London, development finance has been difficult to find during the current cycle.
A number of lenders have passed on the deal owing to the lack of an anchor tenant but Partners has narrowed down its list and a decision is expected imminently.
The building is in the process of being demolished, to be replaced by a 14-storey, 245,000 sq ft grade-A office block.
Partners Group, along with developers Marick Real Estate, expect the building to be finished in the first quarter of 2018.
The largest speculative development in the past 18 months to receive finance has been HB Reavis’s 33 King William Street, EC4. The refi was backed originally by a joint venture between Deutsche Pfandbriefbank and Deutsche Hypo for £90m.
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