Bank of China provides a £150 million GBP loan for the Borough Yards Development Project

Project narrative

In March 2019, the Bank of China (BOC) entered into a £150 million GBP development finance loan agreement with an unspecified borrower for the Borough Yards Development Project. This loan was secured by (i.e. collateralized against) the Borough Yards project site. The proceeds of this loan were to be used by the borrower for the £300 million GBP Borough Yards Development Project, a 197,800 square foot mixed-use development located in Borough, South London, with 56 retail and restaurant units located on the Victorian railway arches near Borough Market, including the redevelopment of former wine-tasting venue Vinopolis and neighboring sites, which front onto the pedestrian path linking the Tate Modern to the west with Borough Market, London Bridge Station and The Shard, to its east. The development would provide over 115,600 square feet of retail and leisure space over five mixed-use buildings, including Grade A workspace, retail, gallery, restaurant, cinema, and creative spaces as well as a new pedestrian lane, Dirty Lane, creating access from Park Street to Bank End, and featured the repurposing of 8,500 square meters of existing railway arches for retail, food, and leisure space. Borough Yards was an investment of Meyer Bergman European Retail Partners II, a fund advised by Meyer Bergman (later renamed as MARK Capital Management), the development manager. Wates Group served as contractor responsible for project implementation. SPPARC Architecture was the project architect. Evolve Consulting Engineers served as structural engineer. Meinhardt served as monitoring and evaluation (M&E) and sustainability engineer. Gleeds served as quantity surveyor. Real PM served as project manager. JPJ Installations Limited won a £1.9 million GBP contract for the installation of KAWNEER systems. Equation Lighting Design was responsible for lighting design. DW Windsor, iGuzzini, Erco, LED Linear, Targetti, and Selux were responsible for lighting supply. Fire Surgery served as fire engineer. Pell Frischmann also served as structural engineer. Burns & Nice served as landscape architect. At the time of the BOC loan, Meyer Bergman was searching for an equity partner for the project. Southwark Borough Council’s planning committee granted planning permission for the Borough Yards scheme in July 2016. The project was originally expected to reach practical completion for Easter 2021 (April 4, 2021). Construction began in July 2018. The first section of Borough Yards, called the Soap Yard, opened in December 2021. The remaining development was expected to open in spring 2022. However, it did not fully open until the end of June 2023. The development was completed in 2021, and the retail offering is set to open to the public in 2022. Opening in stages through 2021 and 2022.