The new 30-storey luxury residential and commercial development in Singapore's Central Business District is a joint venture between Guocoland and two subsidiaries of Hong Leong Holdings – Intrepid Investments and Hong Realty.
Guocoland has secured its first green loan and the industry’s largest green loan for a development project in Singapore to date – a S$730 million ($515.83 million) green club loan from OCBC Bank, DBS Bank and ICBC Singapore Branch, it announced in a press release on Wednesday.
Located above the Bugis mass rapid transit (MRT) interchange station, Guoco Midtown will have two residential towers with more than 500 units of luxury apartments as well as a retail podium with food and beverage establishments open to the public. The joint venture was awarded the tender for the 124,116 square foot land plot in September 2019 for S$800.2 million.
The green loan framework was developed with OCBC, the project's sole green financing advisor, and structured in accordance with the Green Loan Principles issued in 2018 by the Loan Market Association and Asia Pacific Loan Market Association. DBS Bank and OCBC Bank are joint green coordinators and, together with ICBC Singapore, are mandated lead arrangers.
Sustainable Development
Guoco Midtown was recently awarded the BCA Green Mark Platinum award for both its commercial component and its residential component – the 219-unit Midtown Bay, launched in October 2019. Funds will go towards financing the project, including efforts in sustainable development, water and energy conservation, and adoption of immersive urban greenery and landscaping, the statement said.
«Green financing has really taken off in Singapore since late 2018 and a majority of the funds have been channeled into greening the property sector,» Elaine Lam, OCBC head of global corporate banking,
«We are committed to creating sustainable value for the community we operate in and to maintaining a sustainable environment for future generations. We will continue to work towards our goal of a S$10 billion sustainable finance portfolio by 2022,» she said.
