Commercial, Energy Efficiency  -  November 24, 2020

Philly Met uses Penn.'s first retroactive C-PACE to cover past energy upgrades

The owners of the Met Philadelphia announced Nov. 25 that it is retroactively using Commercial Property-Assessed Clean Energy (C-PACE) financing to pay for energy efficiency upgrades to the building that occurred in 2018, a first for the commonwealth.

EB Realty Management (EBRM), the owners of the former Philadelphia Metropolitan Opera House building, is borrowing $6 million from Enhanced Capital to pay for the upgrades. The program was administered by the Philadelphia Energy Authority.

“The reopening of The Met has provided an economic boost to the North Broad Street corridor, particularly neighboring restaurants, hotels and businesses,” Ian McCulley, Director at Enhanced Capital, said in a statement. “Using retroactive C-PACE was a great solution to strengthen the capital stack and repay some higher cost debt. Philadelphia allows retroactive financing up to two years after project completion, and it can be a useful tool for building owners looking to transition from construction to permanent financing.”

At the discretion of the existing mortgage holders, PIDC and Fulton Financial, the C-PACE lending allowed the owners of the Met project to reduce monthly payments for the loan taken out to pay for its energy efficiency retrofit.