Nuveen Green Capital Breaks Texas Record With $228M C-PACE Loan for Austin Office Campus

Everything is bigger in Texas.

Jay Paul Company has sealed $227.5 million of commercial property assessed clean energy (C-PACE) debt to refinance a previous construction loan for the 881,427-square-foot Springdale Green office campus project in Austin. The deal marks the largest C-PACE loan in Texas history and comes a decade after the state’s first financing under the Texas Pace Authority (TX-PACE) program. 

Cory Jubran, senior director of originations at Nuveen Green Capital, said long-term, fixed-rate financing in the form of C-PACE was conducive for this deal to enable the borrower flexibility with leasing up a property that was completed late last year, Despite a challenging Austin office market, Jubran noted the city has seen an uptick of leasing in the last six months with about 4 million square feet signed by technology and defense sector tenants along with chip manufacturers. 

“There’s a lot of momentum in the Austin market, and the sponsor now with the C-PACE loan has the ability to really find the right fit for this property,” Jubran told CO. “This allows the sponsor time to effectuate their business plan.” 

Jubran noted that the C-PACE loan will recapitalize previously completed energy and water efficiency measures at Springdale Green.  

Located at 1011 Springdale Road in East Austin, the property previously was the site of the East Austin tank farm from 1948 to 1992. Jay Paul Company proposed an office development at the site to the City of Austin in May 2020. 

Nick Zolintakis, chief investment officer at Jay Paul Company, said in a statement that the transaction provided an “accretive financing structure” for Springdale Green, and he credited Nuveen Green Capital with navigating the Texas-C-PACE process in a “timely” manner.  

 “Springdale Green’s $227.5 million closing demonstrates how far TX-PACE has come and how innovative financing strategies can create value well beyond a property’s initial construction,” Dub Taylor, CEO of the Texas PACE Authority, said in a statement. 

Andrew Coen can be reached at acoen@commercialobserver.com.