News from 06/10/2008
SWIP: €45.28mn office building acquired in Neu-Isenburg
The British investor Scottish Widows Investment Partnership (SWIP) has acquired two office properties in Germany and the Netherlands for approximately €60mn. One, for some €45.28mn, is a complex in Neu-Isenburg called “Red Square.” The other, for around €16.2mn, is the class A “Bam Huis” in Den Haag. The “Red Square” office complex consists of three buildings and has about 19,203 sqm of lettable area. The “Bam Huis” situated in the Forepark office district has a total area of approximately 6,200 sqm and is completely rented to the Royal BAM group. Robert Matthews, SWIP's head of international property, said that the firm is focusing on office buildings in Germany and the Netherlands because it believes that during the coming five years, the strongest office markets will develop in these countries.
Frankfurt region: Danish investor acquires Kelkheim project from Hochtief
Hochtief Projektentwicklung has sold the new city center now under construction in Kelkheim, near Frankfurt. The buyer is the Danish investor Victoria Properties A/S. The purchasing price is approximately €47mn, Hochtief reported. On a 12,000 sqm lot on Frankenallee, three new buildings for retail, offices, gastronomy, plus apartments for senior citizens and an underground garage with some 320 parking spaces are being developed. The gross floor area amounts to 33,000 sqm, 17,500 sqm of which are lettable area, including the nursing home and assisted living facilities. At this point, Hochtief said, 90% of the lettable area has been signed for; contracts for the remaining space are currently in the final stage of negotiations. Completion is slated for the end of 2008.
DekaImmobilien: WestInvest Interselect invests in Helsinki
DekaImmobilien Investment has signed a letter of intent to acquire the Stora Enso headquarters for approximately €30mn. The 6,200 sqm building will be integrated into the portfolio of the open property fund WestInvest Interselect and the Swedish-Finnish paper manufacturer will lease it back for three years. After that, a Stora Enso spokesperson announced, the firm will rent space in the Helsinki metropolitan area that will better correspond to the firm’s future needs. Further details concerning the rental agreement were not disclosed. The sale and lease back transaction with Deka took place just a few weeks after Stora sold the former Berghulzer paper factory in Wapenveld in the Netherlands for €21mn. In Germany, the company sold the Reisholz paper mill last autumn to a subsidiary of the British Segro REIT. The sales price was not announced at the time, but the transaction is said to have contributed €10mn to the earnings reported for the third quarter of 2007. Stora said that properties are currently being sold that are no longer needed for its operative business.
Leverkusen: Cornerstone to be laid for “Rathaus-Galerie” in Wiesdorf
The cornerstone for the new “Rathaus-Galerie” shopping center at Friedrich-Ebert-Platz in Leverkusen's Wiesdorf district will be laid this coming Thursday. The ECE group based in Hamburg plans an inner-city shopping center with approximately 22,600 sqm of sales area on three levels for some 110 specialized stores, cafés and restaurants. The investor for the €200mn project is Crédit Suisse Asset Management Immobilien KAG mbH. Via an agency contract, ECE will secure the long-term rent and operation management of the center. In the contract with Crédit Suisse, ECE’s operation of the Rathaus-Galerie is projected for at least 20 years. The opening is scheduled for early in 2010. Besides the sales area, some 5,000 sqm will also be built for municipal facilities (among others, the town hall) and 500 parking spaces.
Dawnay, Day Treveria: Management considers partial or complete sale
London-based Dawnay, Day Treveria, specializing in German retail properties, is considering the sale of its properties or the complete sale of the company. The management is investigating “all of the possible alternatives for maximizing shareholder value, including returning funds to shareholders through asset disposals or a sale of the whole company,” the firm disclosed in an announcement to the London stock exchange. After the announcement, the stock’s value rose by some 13%, but was still about 50% below the net asset value registered at the end of 2007.
Hansainvest/Morgan Stanley: Cooperation for mutual and special funds arranged
Hansainvest Hanseatische Investment-GmbH and the U.S investment bank Morgan Stanley have signed a cooperation contract in the fund sector. The goal of the collaboration is joint development and issue of mutual and special funds in Germany, Hansainvest announced. Hansainvest is going to contribute its experience as a service KAG to the collaboration. In this function, the Signal Iduna subsidiary will take over administrative tasks such as fund bookkeeping, reporting and risk controlling.
Leipzig: Prudentia acquires garage from Hochtief Construction
Prudentia Lebensversicherung AG is acquiring a garage with approximately 530 parking spaces in midtown Leipzig. The seller of the building, on which construction began in May, 2008, is Hochtief Construction AG Leipzig. Netpark GmbH, a subsidiary of the French Vinci Park group, was signed as the garage's lessee. The transaction was brokered by Comfort’s Leipzig office. Legal advice was provided by Lovells. It was agreed that no comment would be made regarding rents or purchase price.