Battersea to finalise 1.35b pounds financing by end-Oct

KUALA LUMPUR: Battersea Project Holding Co. Ltd. will finalise the 1.35 billion pounds financing for Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the Battersea Power Station project in London and kick off Phase 3 by end of October, said its chairman Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin.
"The bank has approved 1.35 billion pounds for Phase 2 and Phase 3. Now we need to go through all the documentation. Once we've done that, we'll want to sign it in London. It will be the same five banks plus a few other banks. A lot of banks now want to participate," he told reporters at a briefing on Battersea Power Station's world tour yesterday.
"Phase 1 financing was 790 million pounds. Phase 2 and 3 will be 1.35 billion pounds. It is the biggest real estate loan ever raised not only in Malaysia but also in London," he added.
The five banks involved in the 790 million pounds financing are CIMB, OCBC, Standard Chartered, HSBC and Maybank.
Liew said it is planning a global launch of Phase 3 on October 31 at 8am London time. Phase 3 will comprise 1,200 residential units with a 200-room hotel overlooking the town square and the Power Station.
There will also be 350,000 sq ft of retail and restaurant space, a 15,000 sq ft library and further leisure space. The gross development value (GDV) for Phase 3 is 2 billion pounds.
The company will visit 13 cities in 11 countries as part of its world tour to find global brands, businesses and restaurants. The global tour will also feature 539 homes designed by Gehry Partners and Foster + Partners, ranging from studios to four-bedroom town houses and limited units of penthouses.
"We aim to find the very best mix of UK and global businesses to lease over 3 million sq ft of retail and office accommodation and attract home buyers who want to live in homes designed by two world-leading architectural practices," said Liew.
Exhibitions have been planned for London, Kuala Lumpur, New York, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore, Dubai and Hong Kong from Oct 31 with a second weekend of exhibitions planned for Los Angeles, Milan, Tokyo, Beijing and Doha from November 7.
Phase 3 will be the final phase to be launched before the commencement of the main works for the Northern Line Extension in 2015. The next launch is anticipated to be in 2016/2017.
Liew said there will not be anymore residential launches for the next two years at least, as the site for the later phases will be occupied by the construction of the Northern Line Extension of the London Underground.
The total GDV of the Battersea Power Station project is 8.5 billion pounds. Construction work officially began with Phase 1 on July 4, 2013 and the overall development is expected to be completed in 2025 with the Power Station open to the public in 2019.
"Phase 1 only left four penthouses (20 million pounds per penthouse)…Phase 2 we have sold 95% in terms of units, except the two big penthouses," said Liew.
He said the project, which will have three hotels, expects to announce the first hotel early next year.