News from 12/18/2007
HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt Immobilien: 50% share in new building project acquired in Brisbane
HSBC Trinkaus & Burkhardt Immobilien, in a joint venture with Grosvenor, is investing in Australia for the first time. For AU$210mn, the company has acquired 50% of the new building project at 400 George Street in the central business district of Brisbane from Leighton, a subsidiary of Hochtief. The 33-story office tower with a net rentable area of approximately 43,000 sqm is to be completed in 2009; 50% of the floor space has already been provisionally rented. The project was financed by the HSBC banking group in Australia. CB Richard Ellis Australia and Fortius Funds Management acted as advisors for the purchasers.
Alstria: REIT acquires portfolio from HUK-Coburg
Alstria Office REIT-AG reported the signing of a sales contract with HUK-Coburg and its subsidiaries: In a sale and lease back procedure, the REIT is taking over a portfolio consisting of five office buildings in Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Cologne and Detmold for €53mn (€1,791/sqm). The total rentable area comes to approximately 29,590 sqm, of which HUK—or another company belonging to the insurance group—will lease back 57%. The leases are for between 5 and 10 years. A further 40% are rented to third parties, among them Deutsche Bank and DATEV. The vacancy rate is said to be 3%; annual rent income is assessed by the company at some €3.3mn—an average of €9.6/sqm/month. The transaction will be concluded in the course of the coming year, pending approval by the cartel office.
USA: 1st half of 2008 tense for commercial property market
At approximately 3.35mn sqm, the floor space turnover in the U.S.A. during the last three months failed by far to meet the forecasted 4.6mn sqm and dropped to 25% below the results for the same period of the previous year. The total leasing performance between January and September amounted to some 9.28mn sqm—also significantly lower than the 13.3mn sqm registered in the comparison period from 2006. Colliers International ascertained that, by the end of the third quarter, the U.S. commercial property market had definitely weakened: The situation on the residential property market and the mortgage crisis have made their impression on demand. However, although the experts are assuming that the fourth quarter and the first half of the coming year "will be a big challenge" for the commercial property market, they nevertheless see some signs pointing to an economic recovery: The gross domestic product rose to 3.9%, and exports have also been growing. A further clue suggesting an improvement in the U.S. economy is the ISM index’ having stayed above the 50-point mark.
Warburg-Henderson: Portfolio in France acquired for around €36mn
Henderson Global Investors has acquired a portfolio in France for approximately €36mn. The objects it contains, with a total area of over 34,500 sqm, are to become a part of the Warburg-Henderson Multinational Plus-Fonds (Plus Fund). The seller of the properties is Société de la Tour Eiffel. In the package are, among other properties, an object with a surface area of 5,270 sqm rented long-term to the French post office, four buildings with a surface area of 5,795 sqm in an office park in Champs-sur-Marne near Paris, five office buildings measuring 3,200 sqm in Evry-Lisses near Paris and a warehouse in Genlis near Dijon. Warburg-Henderson was advised by Jones Lang LaSalle, the seller by Exa Conseil Investissement.
Düsseldorf: HIH acquires office building project on Tannenstrasse area
HIH Hamburgische Immobilien Handlung GmbH has acquired an office building ensemble now under construction on the Tannenstrasse area in Düsseldorf's Derendorf district. It is to be the headquarters of the advertising agency Grey Global Group consisting of three landmarked buildings in which 6,700 sqm of office and 850 sqm of archive space will be created as well as a new building with 4,500 sqm of office and 350 sqm of archive space. An underground garage with 110 parking spaces will also be added. The "IdeenBotschaft" ("Embassy of Ideas"), as the building ensemble will be called, is being constructed on a plot measuring 11,500 sqm and was designed by the Düsseldorf architectural office Petzinka Pink. The urban development area "Tannenstrasse" comprises ten hectares and will have Grey as its first anchor tenant.
Accor: 10 to 15 new Etap and Ibis Hotels planned
The Accor concern is expanding its budget chains in Germany. In the coming three years, 10 to 15 new guest houses will be opened for each of its two brands, Etap and Ibis, says CEO Gilles Pélisson in the newspaper Financial Times Deutschland. The cost of the expansion is estimated at some €150mn. The target is to increase significantly the number of the Ibis and Etap Hotels, particularly in city centers.