News from 03/20/2007
Invesco Real Estate: German four-star property acquired for hotel fund
Invesco Real Estate acquires the four-star Lindner Hotel Airport (239 rooms) in Düsseldorf for the Invesco Hotel Fund. According to information from Jochen Schaefer-Surén, head of Hotels and Leisure at Invesco Real Estate, this is the first of more planned acquisitions for the fund. The purchase price was not mentioned. Total investment volume of the fund amounts to around €900mn. The Invesco Hotel Fund focuses its search on practical properties, above all in Europe.
NCC: Portfolio with 28,800 m² sold to Sellar Property
Sellar Property Group, a British firm, has acquired a portfolio of German properties with 28,800 m² of total area from the Swedish project developer NCC Property Development. Purchase price of the three office, business, and hotel properties in Berlin, Dortmund, and Düsseldorf amounts to €51.5mn. With 12,800 m², the hotel and office complex “NZ9“ in Düsseldorf is the largest property in the portfolio. Sellar Property was counseled by Atisreal. The transaction marks the group's first acquisition in continental Europe.
Arab Investments: German property portfolio acquired for €300mn
The investment firm Arab Investments Ltd. has acquired a German property portfolio for its Sharia Compliant Fund for around €300mn. Sellers are the project developers Bauwert, OFB, and Züblin. The portfolio includes a total of 12 retail and office properties in Gera and Berlin. Arab Investments was counseled by Savillis. The value of the London-based firm's property assets in Germany currently stands at €250mn. A volume that is aimed at totals €500mn.
Berlin: Degewo searches for another investor for area at the Alexa-Center
The municipal residential company Degewo searches further for an investor for the 13,600 m² pieces of land between Alexanderstraße and Dirckenstraße. Residences, offices, and a hotel of 150 m shall be constructed there. On the neighboring site, Alexa, the shopping and leisure center of investors Sonae Sierra and Foncière Euris, is currently emerging. According to Degewo spokesperson Erika Kröber, there are indeed more inquiries from interested parties since the development's completion, though an investor has yet to be found.
In 2006, around 103,000 m² of office space were leased in Hannover, Langenhagen, and Laatzen, 80% more than 2005. With this, the number of m² is considerably higher than in the past ten years and even exceeds the hitherto maximum values of the Expo years 2000 and 2001 (around 90,000 m²).
Leipzig: Telekom wants to sell main post
Deutsche Telekom wants to sell the building of the main post office at 1-4 Augustusplatz. Sireo Real Estate negotiates as a proxy for Telekom, with several interested investors. The building, which is in need of renovation, possesses 27,000 m² of rentable area. The existing postal outlet of 300 m² shall remain.
Franconofurt: Capital enhancement planned for acquisitions in the Rhein-Ruhr conurbation
Franconofurt AG plans to increase its capital from €6.6mn to €8.8. The firm wants the money to acquire more regional residential portfolios. Acquisitions are intended in the Rhein-Ruhr conurbation through Franconofurt AG's fully-owned subsidiary, Francono West AG.
The Danish Tower Group A/S has closed “conditional agreements“ over the sale of fully-rented residential properties in Oberhausen and Bochum. The total purchase price, including purchase costs, is €24mn, according to information from the investor.