BayernLB refinances Cologne quarter development with 91 million euros

The two joint venture partners Alfons & alfreda and FAY Projects have agreed a five-year senior facility of 91 million euros with BayernLB for the OVUM quarter development in Cologne.

Completed in September 2023, OVUM comprises around 27,000 square metres of lettable space and has been fully let since mid-2023. The campus in Cologne brings together modern office space, retail space and a hotel across four buildings, complemented by a two-storey underground car park.

With its DGNB Gold and WiredScore Gold certifications, OVUM sets a benchmark for sustainable, future-proof property projects in the west of Cologne.

A tranche of mezzanine debt was also refinanced. Both facilities replace the previous development financing, which consisted of a senior property loan and a mezzanine loan.

The successful refinancing underlines the high quality and appeal of OVUM.

Ralph Esser, Managing Director of FAY Projects, comments: “We are grateful for the confidence BayernLB has placed in our product and its economic future. OVUM is of excellent structural quality and is fully let on long leases. With office tenants drawn largely from public administration, and the Rewe supermarket adding local amenity, it offers a high degree of investment security and is therefore outstandingly positioned in the current market environment.”

“This thoroughly pleasing milestone in a difficult market speaks for the quality of the OVUM asset and for the appeal of the quarter’s location, and it is the result of an exceptionally constructive and resilient collaboration between Alfons & alfreda, FAY and BayernLB,” says Friedrich Weil, Board Member and founder of Alfons & alfreda.

“We are delighted to be co-financing the gold-certified OVUM office and retail development now that it is complete. The property is distinguished by a well-judged mix of high-quality office, retail and hotel space. The quarter is an ideal piece of urban development and an ideal complement for the up-and-coming district of Braunsfeld, and it fits outstandingly well into a neighbourhood whose architecture is shaped by many buildings from the Gründerzeit,” says Bernd Mayer, Head of Real Estate at BayernLB.