Fortwell Capital has provided a new €33m (£28.1m) acquisition and CAPEX loan to Argo Real Estate and The Townsend Group for the redevelopment of London’s iconic Baltic Exchange building. The loan will be used to transform the Grade II listed commercial office building, which is located adjacent to London’s famous Gherkin building, fully refurbishing its’ 42,000ft² of the interior. The building’s occupiers and previous owners, the Baltic Exchange Ltd, a subsidiary of the Singapore Exchange Ltd, will lease the second floor of the building on completion of the works. The building will adopt first-class ESG credentials, targeting BREEAM outstanding as well as aiming to be run on an all-eclectic, zero carbon in operation basis. On completion, it is estimated the project will have an end value in the region of €93.8m (£80m).
Nikos Yerolemou-Ennsgraber, Director, Fortwell Capital, said: “We are excited to be working with Argo Real Estate and The Townsend Group to refurbish such an iconic City of London building. Given its historical heritage, Baltic Exchange represents an incredible opportunity to create a flagship London commercial property. The value-add sector forms one of Fortwell’s key lending strategies given its strong investor appetite and stable risk-adjusted returns, and we look forward to lending more within the sector.”
Crispin Gandy, Chief Executive at Argo Real Estate, said: “The new funding secured from Fortwell Capital will enable us to restore this historic building, combining its beautiful architecture with modern interior design to deliver exceptional accommodation with best-in-class amenity and ESG credentials. Fortwell’s successful track-record record as a specialist finance partner speaks volumes about their sector expertise. We look forward to building our partnership as we refurbish this iconic site in the centre of the nations’ capital.”
