Allens has advised the lenders to the successful Building Communities consortium on the Ground Lease Model 2 project. Under the public private partnership-like project, Homes Victoria and Building Communities will partner to build 1,370 new social, affordable, specialist disability and market rental residential dwellings across four project sites in Victoria.
The Building Communities consortium is comprised of Tetris Capital and community housing providers Community Housing (Victoria) Limited, Women’s Property Initiatives and Aboriginal Community Housing (Victoria) Limited, with the project to be built by Icon Construction.
The lenders include Housing Australia, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
The transaction was structured as a sustainable loan with a sustainable finance framework focused specifically on green and social achievements and initiatives.
'This represents the first major project in which Housing Australia is lending side-by-side with commercial banks on a senior secured basis. We are pleased to have worked with the lenders and to have played a part in delivering this key project,' said Partner Scott McCoy.
'This project is a fantastic example of the benefit in having public-private partnerships to help fund social infrastructure.
‘Allens has a strong relationship with bid leader Tetris, who are at the forefront of this field. We really enjoyed working with them and lenders to bring to life this critically important project.’
As part of Victoria's Big Housing Build, the project will see 1,370 new homes built across South Yarra, Prahran, Hampton East and Port Melbourne. More than 650 homes will be social housing, while the remainder will be a mix of affordable and market-rental homes, including some specialist disability accommodation.
Allens legal team
Banking & Finance
Scott McCoy (Partner), Jamie Guthrie (Managing Associate), Sally Page (Senior Associate), Darwin Ni (Associate), Anushri Goswami (Lawyer), Bennett Walsh (Lawyer)