Battersea Power Station nears completion with £280m new loan
The developers behind Battersea Power Station have secured a new £280m refinancing as the £5bn regeneration project nears its final stage.
The Battersea Power Station Development Company secured the new loan from the group of lenders which have backed the project since it began in 2012, including London-listed Standard Chartered, Malaysian bank CIMB, Singaporean financial services firm OCBC and Maybank, Malaysia’s largest bank.
The new financial backing comes as the west-London development project enters its final phase. Last month, developers submitted plans for the site’s 16 remaining acres.
Chee Sing Siew, the Battersea Power Station Development Company’s finance chief, told City AM the project “depends on patient capital and a shared belief in the long-term value a place can create”.
He added: “Against a quieter property market, the continued support from our lenders reflects confidence in the transformation achieved so far, from the restoration of the once derelict Grade II-star listed Power Station to the creation of a thriving riverside neighbourhood, and the opportunity that lies ahead.
“[The refinancing] provides a firm financial foundation for developing the remaining 16 acres of land and creates sustained value for our shareholders and the wider neighbourhood.”
Elton John opened new venue
Construction on the development’s latest addition, Prospect Place South, is set to begin in September. The two buildings included in this phase will deliver about 300 new homes and 65,000 sq ft of retail, hospitality and leisure space.
Battersea Power Station is already home to more than 2,200 homes, about 800,000 sq ft of office space and more than 170 shops, bars and restaurants.
A consortium of Malaysian investors bought the site in 2012 with plans to redevelop it for £400m. Since they stepped in to take the project out of administration, these shareholders have invested more than £5bn in its redevelopment.
The redeveloped Battersea Power Station already hosts businesses including Apple, appliance maker SharkNinja and architectural firm Foster + Partners.
The original Battersea Power Station was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, an art deco architect famed for London’s red telephone boxes and the Bankside Power Station, which now hosts the Tate Modern art gallery.
The site operated as a coal-fired power station until it was decommissioned in 1975.
The building is now home to Apple Music Hall, a live music venue which hosted Sir Elton John for its first concert last month.