EIB providing €81M loan to Helaba for school building in Nuremberg

Martin-Behaim-Gymnasium’s new building will be made of wood, be completed by 2026 and serve 1,500 pupils and 160 teachers.

The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing an €81 million loan to Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen for the construction of a state-of-the-art school building in Nuremberg. Helaba, together with Sparkasse Nürnberg, housing company WBG Kommunal GmbH and the state of Bavaria, is contributing additional funding to the total project-financing of €175 million.

Martin-Behaim-Gymnasium’s new building will be made of wood, be completed by 2026 and serve 1,500 pupils and 160 teachers. A canteen and sports hall with large outdoor facilities will also be built. The near-zero energy complex will have solar panels for electricity and a geothermal system for heating and cooling. Contractors will also work with recycled concrete salvaged from the previous building.

Helaba has years of experience in school-construction financing. It often provides financing for educational institutions in Austria, Ireland and the United Kingdom via public-private partnerships involving private companies that retain ownership of the schools and receive payment from municipalities for operation and maintenance. The EIB has also supported new school campus projects in Austria set up via public-private partnerships.

“Education needs suitable spaces contributing to a creative learning environment,” said EIB Vice-President Nicola Beer, who oversees financing in Germany. “The EIB is pleased to back projects for school buildings that pupils want to use and that also cater for a wide range of sports and leisure activities in addition to teaching.” 

Nuremberg is a rapidly growing metropolitan area with an urgent need for additional schools, particularly all-day ones.

“We are delighted that — together with the EIB — we have once again been able to help the city of Nuremberg implement a modern and particularly sustainable project on the back of our many years of expertise in financing social infrastructure projects,” said Sabine Möller, head of asset finance at Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen.