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Canadian pension fund Omers’ real estate arm Oxford Properties and its joint venture partner, Brockton Capital have secured financing for the redevelopment of The Post Building into a 320,000 sq ft (29,730 m2) AHMM- designed scheme.

The Joint Venture has secured a £230 mln (€305 mln) financing facility from lenders pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank and BNP Paribas. The loan represents a loan-to-cost of 60%.

The Post Building - the former Royal Mail Sorting Office, located on an island block bordered by New Oxford Street, High Holborn and Museum Street in London – will provide office space, street-level retail and restaurant space; affordable housing; and rooftop gardens. The project will be delivered in line with the new £1 bn Crossrail station at Tottenham Court Road, the landlords said.

‘We are delighted to be working with lenders who share the joint venture’s vision to develop one of London’s most inspiring work spaces in terms of volume, sustainability and design,’ said Paul Brundage, executive vice president and senior managing director for Europe at Oxford Properties.

Demolition of the existing building is already underway, with the loan planned to support the Oxford-Brockton JV in meeting its anticipated delivery date of Q3 2017 to shell and core and Q1 2018 for final delivery. ‘Equity and debt capital from the UK, Canada, Germany and France is excited to be delivering The Post Building and we think that both local and international occupiers will be equally excited to call it home, from 2018,’ added David Marks, co-managing partner at Brockton Capital.

Rothschild advised on the structuring of the Joint Venture; Oxford Properties was advised on the deal by CBRE; JLL, Pilcher Hershman and CBRE are joint leasing agents for the offices; and CBRE and Davis Coffer Lyons are joint leasing agents for the retail and restaurants. Oxford Properties and Brockton Capital were advised by Ashurst and Nabarro; and pbb Deutsche Pfandbriefbank and BNP Paribas were advised by Allen & Overy.