News from 01/30/2008
Berlin: Hackesches Quartier project to commence in spring, 2008
IVG Development AG announced that construction of the office and business complex “Hackesches Quartier” next to the Hackescher Markt station of Berlin's rapid transit system is to start in spring, 2008. On a 10,700 sqm property on An der Spandauer Brücke, an architectural ensemble including a rentable area of 36,600 sqm will be constructed. From the total available area, 24,900 sqm will go to offices, 7,700 sqm to serviced apartments, and 4,000 sqm to retail stores and restaurants. An underground garage is to provide 330 parking spaces. Completion of the project is scheduled for spring 2010. Even before commencement of construction, IVG has let 80% of the rentable area.
LEG NRW: More than ten offers for residential firm
The daily newspaper Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) reported that more than ten bidders are competing for state-owned LEG NRW with its approximately 96,000 apartments. WAZ also reported that, according to government circles, one of the offers reached €3.4bn. In the first phase of the sale, there are enough bidders to offer a “considerable selection,” the paper cited a speaker for the North Rhine-Westphalian Ministry of Finance as saying. The residential firm Deutsche Annington, the U.S. investment bank Goldman Sachs and the U.S. property investor Brack Capital are said to be among the bidders. Last June, Brack Capital acquired a package with 300 apartments in each of Gelsenkirchen and Duisburg from LEG.
Deka: Heightened share of U.S. logistics center
Individueller Immobilienfonds Deka-S-PropertyFund No. 1, managed by Deka Immobilien Investment GmbH, has expanded its share in the Crate & Barrel logistics center in Cranbury, New Jersey, by taking over an extension of the center at a cost of $22.3mn. The fund, which had already acquired a 90% majority share in August, 2004 for €33.7mn, now holds 100% of the U.S. object firm. The seller and developer was a company belonging to the Rockefeller Group. Together with the extension, the logistics center now has approximately 85,000 sqm of usable area which is rented long-term to the U.S. furniture and accessories chain Crate & Barrel.
Hamburg Trust: New private placement to raise $100mn
Through its Finest Selection fund, Hamburg Trust Grundvermögen und Anlage GmbH is issuing its first private placement in cooperation with the New York based Paramount Group, Inc. The fund is to raise an equity capital volume of $100mn and is targeting a yield of at least 10% IRR before taxes. The fund’s investment strategy is based on singling out and acquiring properties which can be improved through Paramount’s expertise. Paramount invests primarily in class A office buildings in the central business districts of major cities in the U.S.A. For the first time, affluent private investors can also participate in a Paramount fund, starting at a minimum investment of $1mn. Up to now, the funds issued by Paramount were reserved exclusively for a circle of chosen private and institutional investors.
Redos: Management contract for Petersbogen shopping center in Leipzig
Hamburg based Redos Retail Asset Management GmbH has been entrusted with the asset management of the Petersbogen shopping center in Leipzig. While Redos itself will be responsible for financial management, SEC Center-Management GmbH, a 50% holding of Redos, will be taking over the center management. The Petersbogen shopping center in midtown Leipzig extends over 38,000 sqm, 10,000 of which are in retail; the rest is used by a multiplex cinema and other leisure activities. The investment volume for the shopping center, opened in 2001, was around €110mn. Redos Retail Asset Management was founded just last November by Redos Real Estate GmbH; in December, it acquired a share of SEC based in Itzehoe.
Bremen: Contigo rents 80 sqm retail space in the Lloydhof
Contigo Fair Trade is renting 80 sqm of retail space, owned by an international investment fund, in the Lloydhof shopping center in Bremen. The area in the inner city shopping center at the prime location Ansgaritorstrasse/Hanseatenhof was brokered by Robert C. Spies Gewerbe und Investment GmbH.