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Pontiac Land secures green loan in the Maldives

Luxury property developer Pontiac Land Pvt. Ltd. has converted $180 million in bank loans for Fari Islands, its island archipelago in the Maldives, into green loans after receiving Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies (EDGE) Advanced Certifications.

The green loans highlight Pontiac’s commitment to creating a more sustainable future.

Green loans are loans for sustainable, environmentally-friendly objectives. Similar to a green bond, which raises capital for green-eligible projects, a green loan is a type of financing that allows borrowers to use the proceeds exclusively to finance projects that contribute significantly to an environmental goal.

This is the Singapore-based company’s first green loan, with DBS, HSBC and UOB serving as the green structuring banks. This is also the first green loan in the Maldives for DBS and UOB and HSBC’s first green loan in the Maldives’ hotel sector.

The green loans reflect the growing commitment to sustainability in the hotel development sector, according to HSBC, the primary lead arranger, facility and security agent for the development of two Pontiac resorts in the Maldives.

The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands.

Located in Maldives’ North Malé Atoll, Fari Islands is an elevated resort experience constituting three luxury hotels, a marina and an employee campus. Anchored by three brands — Capella Hotels & Resorts, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. and Patina Hotels & Resorts — the island also includes a beach club, boutiques and upscale dining venues. Fari Campus, an entire island dedicated to employee wellbeing and development, provides Swiss education to employees in partnership with Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne.

Fari Islands’ spaces have been designed by architects from Studio Mk27 (by Marcio Kogan), Kengo Kuma & Associates and Kerry Hill Associates.

The green loans cover two resorts — Patina Maldives, Fari Islands and The Ritz-Carlton Maldives, Fari Islands.

“Pontiac Land takes a long-term view to real estate developments and investments with core considerations towards responsibility, integrity and sustainability in every project. The Maldives is one of the world’s leading travel destinations and we hope to help lead and encourage the development of greater sustainability methods and practices in the region,” David Tsang, CEO Pontiac Land Group, said.

With the EDGE advanced certification, a global green building standard developed by the International Finance Corp., Fari Islands has been recognized as zero carbon ready. Sustainability was the topmost priority at the island since it was planned for its daily operations.

Some of the key initiatives include:

  • Sustainable architecture and design: Fari Islands benefitted from the extensive use of offsite manufacturing technology known as Mass Engineered Timber. This helped lower carbon emissions by more than 6,000 tons after production and transportation. DTrees were saved and transplanted from nearby Maldivian islands that were being cleared for construction during construction. More than 20,000 mature trees were rescued in this way. Single-use plastic has been eliminated.
  • Renewable energy sources: In a departure from the conventional thatched roof structures, which are prevalent in the Maldives, the villas and other amenities at Fari Islands have flat roofs, enabling the installment of solar panels. Some of the amenities at Fari Islands have now become 100% solar-powered. Pontiac is exploring more renewable energy solutions.
  • Guest experience and education: The resorts promote marine conservation and sustainability through partnerships and creative guest programming aimed at coral propagation, turtle rehabilitation, ecological research and the reuse of marine plastic. To further reduce import footprint, the island has an organic permaculture garden that grows pesticide-free produce while turning food waste into organic fertilizers using bio-digesters.
  • Plant-based food options: Fari Islands houses Roots, a signature plant-based restaurant that operates on a root-to-leaf principle and encourages guests to adopt a more conscious lifestyle.
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