Immoeast AG concludes refinancing of €250 m for three properties

Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen has agreed to refinance €250 m in a property-backed deal involving Immoeast properties “Silesia City Center”, a shopping centre in Katowice, and two office buildings in Warsaw.

Immoeast AG acquired “Silesia City Center”, the largest cutting edge shopping centre in Upper Silesia in 2005. Katowice is at the centre of the booming region of Upper Silesia, and is one of Poland's leading economic centres. The attractive “Silesia City Center” encompasses a total of 110,000 sq m with a net rentable area of 65,800 sq m, room for 240 outlets, and 3,000 parking spaces. 100 percent of the available space in the shopping centre has been leased on long-term contracts since its opening, underlining the success of the site. High footfall and demand from potential tenants for additional space have led to the decision to begin expanding the shopping centre in 2010 with an additional 18,500 sq m over two floors. Completion is scheduled for March 2011, with a total of around €48 m to be invested in the expansion.

The refinanced portfolio also includes two first class office buildings in Warsaw, “Brama Zachodnia” and “IO-1”. Completed in 2001, “Brama Zachodnia” has a net rentable area of around 24,000 sq m. “IO-1” is a modern building, completed in 2007, and offers a net rentable area of 23,500 sq m. Both properties are distinguished by ideal traffic connections and an above-average standard of facilities.

“Due to our portfolio's long-term earning power and stable development, we were able to secure refinancing for our properties despite such a difficult economic climate”, says Dr Eduard Zehetner, CEO of Immofinant Group.