News from 05/29/2007
ECE: Shopping center planned in Lithuania
Together with the Lithuanian Rubicon Group, ECE is going to develop a shopping center in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. The construction of the "Ozas Gallery" is to begin this year; the opening is projected for early in 2009. 60,000m² for approximately 200 shops are planned.
This year, Magnat Real Estate Opportunities intends to acquire apartments, offices, and logistics properties in Russia, the Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, and Turkey for €200mn.
Hypo Real Estate (HRE) is going to develop a REIT for mortgage loans. "We are working on the founding of such a vehicle for the European market," said Jürgen Fenk, director of the American property financing segment of the HRE, in an interview with the Süddeutsche Zeitung. Up to now, HRE has been active—"as the sole foreign manager" of such a debt REIT—on the US market, which is the leader in this field. Neither in Germany nor elsewhere in Europe have mortgage REITs been listed on the stock market, up to now.
IBM: Sale and lease back of own office areas planned
IBM Central Holding GmbH, the German subsidiary of the US concern IBM, is planning to sell about 25% of its office areas in Germany and to lease back the largest part. It was not announced which buildings would be involved. According to the Stuttgarter Zeitung, the areas to be leased back are in Ehningen, Herrenberg, Hannover-Bemerode, and Nuremberg. The IT firm is planning to move its headquarters from Stuttgart-Vaihingen to Ehningen in 2009.
The Tenkhoff Properties Group, Berlin, and IMBW Capital & Consulting GmbH have sold the Kröpeliner Tor Center (KTC) in Rostock to the Degi Europe Retail fund, which acquired the property for approximately €87.8mn. The shopping center is slated for opening in September 2007, and is located in the main shopping street and pedestrian zone in Rostock. The shopping center's 36 stores are already almost completely let to retail labels such as Saturn, Zara, New Yorker, Plus, and Douglas. The property has at its disposal a total leasing area of 19,650m², 15,134 m² of retail surface area, three office units, a fitness center and a gastronomic section.