Lender To Sell £104M Loan To WeWork-Let City Icon At A Discount
Bank of Ireland is selling the debt secured against a famous City of London office building at a discount to its face value.
The lender has appointed Eastdil Secured to market a £104M loan secured against the 151K SF postmodernist One Poultry office building, Bloomberg reported. The building is owned by South Korean investor Hana Alternative Asset Management.
The 110K SF office element of the building is let in its entirety to WeWork, and the upper floor is home to fine dining institution Coq d’Argent, with retail space on the ground floor.
Hana bought the asset for £185M in 2018 from fund manager Aermont. That deal was completed with the £104M loan from Bank of Ireland.
By 2020, the value of the building had dropped to £142M, putting the loan in breach, which meant Hana had to put up fresh equity, Bloomberg reported. The building is up for sale for £125M.
Hana “is working with local managers and advisers to normalize local assets and is working closely with local counterparts on refinancing,” the company told Bloomberg.
Lenders to office buildings across London have been looking to exit their positions as interest rate rises and falling occupancy put pressure on borrowers.
Two large office buildings in Canary Wharf went into administration and receivership earlier this year, a process that started after lender Lloyds attempted to sell the loans against the buildings.
Nuveen is also seeking a buyer for a City office building after consolidating its position as lender.
