VANCOUVER – The partnership building Telus Garden in Vancouver has issued $225 million in green bonds, marking the first time in North America that green mortgage bonds have been used to support real estate financing.
The proceeds raised by the 500 Georgia Office Partnership, the joint venture of Telus and Westbank, will be primarily used to retire short-term construction financing for the office tower (pictured). The privately-placed 3.40% 10-year bonds will mature on July 22, 2025, and include senior notes secured by the environmentally and technology-advanced development.
“When the Telus Garden partnership was looking at options for retiring the short-term construction financing and establishing new financing for the Telus Garden office tower, issuing green bonds quickly became the obvious choice," said Telus SVP and chief sustainability officer Andrea Goertz, in the news release. "Green bonds are a relatively new concept allowing conscientious investors to make the choice to put their money into environmentally sustainable projects like Telus Garden. We hope our issue of green bonds will encourage more Canadian organizations to pursue environmentally sustainable developments."
The one million square foot Telus Garden development in downtown Vancouver includes a 22-storey signature office tower built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Platinum specifications as well as a LEED Gold 47-storey residential tower with 424 green homes and retail space. The multi-tenant 496,000 square foot Class AAA office tower is Telus' new headquarters and executive office.
