Partner Stéphane Hadet; Credit: Dentons Luxembourg

Members of the Dentons Luxembourg team have helped advise Nuveen Real Estate as borrower on the refinancing of Berlin shopping centre Gropius Passagen.

Aided by members of its Luxembourg team, Stéphane Hadet and Christophe Renaudin, Dentons recently advised Nuveen Real Estate on this development, in which the lender, Allianz Real Estate, is granting a seven-year loan of €230 million to refinance the shopping centre.

Nuveen Real Estate manages 80% of the Gropius Passagen property through a joint venture with Unibail Rodamco Westfield. Nuveen is one of the world's largest real estate investment managers with approximately €107 billion in assets under management.

Gropius Passagen is one of the largest shopping centres in Berlin. A five-year refurbishment programme, due to be completed in 2020, will completely modernise the centre with a mix of national and international top brands, a newly created food court and a multiplex cinema. The centre’s turnover was €237 million in 2018 and is expected to increase because of the repositioning and improved asset quality.

A Dentons team, led by Frankfurt partner Bernhard Gemmel, advised Nuveen on the refinancing process and negotiated the financing and security documentation together with Allianz Real Estate. Partner Stéphane Hadet and senior associate Christophe Renaudin from the Banking and Finance practice in Luxembourg were also involved in the deal.

Dentons has advised Nuveen for several years, most recently on the refinancing of an existing acquisition loan in connection with a large shopping centre in southern Germany.