Philadelphia C-PACE Hits $100 Million In Clean Energy Financing With New $30 Million Freezpak Facility Project

On December 13, Nuveen Green Capital and the Philadelphia Energy Authority announced the closing of $30.08 million in Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing for a Freezpak cold storage facility at 2201 E. Allegheny Avenue in the Port Richmond neighborhood of Philadelphia. 

This is the largest C-PACE deal to-date in Pennsylvania and brings the total amount of C-PACE dollars invested by private sector lenders to $100 million in Philadelphia, a true landmark in the program which became active in late 2019.

C-PACE financing for this project is being used for extensive energy efficiency improvements, making the building 30% more efficient than required by Philadelphia's building energy code. 

Financed measures include energy efficient walls and glass, interior and exterior LED lighting, variable volume air handlers, freezer evaporators, domestic water heater, and exhaust fans.

According to building owner BG Capital's Managing Partner Joe Byrne, "in these challenging times, alternative debt solutions like C-PACE have now become critical in rounding out the capital stack within larger scale projects. We are extremely fortunate to work with the team at Nuveen Green Capital on getting this deal over the finish line and working with a company whose product has an emphasis on sustainability within our industry."

Shelah Wallace, Director, Originations at Nuveen Green Capital stated that "it was a pleasure to work closely with BG Capital and Freezpak, Ocean First Bank, and the Philadelphia Energy Authority on getting us to the closing table at a time when interest rates continuously fluctuated and parties risked losing rate locks. We look forward to financing more energy efficient projects together in the future."

"This kind of collaboration between the public and private sectors has brought real economic development to Philadelphia, and is just the type of innovation we will need to see as climate funding from the Inflation Reduction Act begins to flow," said Matt Stern, Senior Director of Commercial Programs at the Philadelphia Energy Authority, which administers the Philadelphia C-PACE program. 

To learn more, visit the Philadelphia C-PACE website.

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[Posted: December 13, 2022]  PA Environment Digest