The Australian government鈥檚 green funding agency is investing AUD200m (鈧�128m) in QIC鈥檚 Shopping Centre Fund (QSCF) to improve the energy efficiency of its assets.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) will provide the senior debt facility to help support improvements in the fund鈥檚 shopping centres located in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.
QIC Global Real Estate (QICGRE) will look to reduce energy consumption and will undertake customer engagement activities that inform shoppers of the initiatives.
Fund manager Michael Fattouh said: 鈥淭his partnership with CEFC presents a unique opportunity to align QSCF鈥檚 capital management strategy, that seeks to diversify its sources of funding, with QICGRE鈥檚 broader ESG ambitions to drive sustainability initiatives and manage energy risk across our retail portfolio.鈥�
Fattouh said: 鈥淭he CEFC facility is also QSCF鈥檚 first green-debt facility and the first major investment CEFC has committed to the Australian retail sector, for which we are extremely proud.
鈥淨SCF is also commencing work with the CEFC to understand potential pathways to achieving net zero carbon emissions across its portfolio, building on QICGRE鈥檚 recently announced target of generating 30% of all base load power for retail asset common areas from renewable energy by 2025.鈥�
CEFC鈥檚 investment in QSCF is the largest property investment commitment to date. The agency was established in 2013 to foster and promote decarbonisation of the Australian economy.
Previous beneficiaries include Investa Commercial Property Fund (ICPF) and EG Funds Management.
