Erste Group Bank AG is providing a EUR 320 million refinancing to an investment fund managed by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing for Wien-Mitte, a multi-use trophy property located in the center of Vienna. Erste Group acted as sole underwriter and arranger in what the bank reports to be its single largest real-estate financing to date.
Wien-Mitte comprises approximately 63,000 square meters of modern offices and an approximately-28,000-square-meter shopping center called “The Mall.” Acquired by an investment fund managed by MSREI in 2015, Wien-Mitte is fully let on a long-term basis to anchor tenants including the Austrian Ministry of Finance, multinational packaging and paper group Mondi, MediaMarkt, and supermarket operator SPAR. Wien-Mitte is a “green” building with ESG credentials such as a DGNB Platinum certification and an OGNI Green Building status in line with EU taxonomy.
Erste Group was the sole underwriter and arranger of the refinancing and also acted as facility and security agent.
“Erste Group is proud to have financed as sole underwriter in its home market such a large and high-quality trophy asset as Wien-Mitte,” said Wolfgang Molnar, Executive Director for Commercial Real Estate at Erste Group. “This transaction marks a continuation of Erste Group’s strategy to finance super prime, green buildings that are owned and managed by high quality sponsors with strong asset management track record.”
“MSREI is delighted to have completed the refinancing of this landmark trophy asset with Erste Group,” said Oriol Espinet, Executive Director at MSREI. “We have been investing in quality properties in Austria for the past decade and we continue to like the fundamentals of the Austrian real estate market.”