News from 06/20/2008
UIR: 94.9% of ECE center Rhein-Galerie in Ludwigshafen acquired
UIR Union Investment Real Estate AG has acquired the project development of the Rhein-Galerie shopping center in Ludwigshafen with an investment share of approximately €210mn for its open property fund UniImmo:Deutschland. The seller of the shopping center with some 30,000 sqm of sales area (120 shops with an emphasis on textiles) plus gastronomy, service providers and 1,300 parking spaces is ECE, which will operate the Rhein-Galerie long-term. UIR reports that the purchase is a shareholder acquisition. Union Investment has taken over 94.9% of the shares in the Rhein-Galerie—5.1% remain with ECE. The total investment volume of the project which is to be completed in fall, 2010 amounts to around €220mn. According to Frank Billand, a member of the board of UIR, 50% of the Rhein-Galerie being developed directly on the banks of the Rhine and in the center of the city has already been rented. He says that the new shopping center has a catchment area with more than 1mn inhabitants and is one of the biggest centers in the Rhine-Neckar region.
Düsseldorf: Quantum acquires "Cecilien-Palais" for €18mn
In a forward deal, Quantum Immobilien Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH has acquired the "Cecilien-Palais" office project in Düsseldorf's Pempelfort district. The investment volume was €18mn. The property is to become a part of the special commercial property fund Quantum German City Select 1 in the fall of 2009. The seller is the project developer BEMA Rheinland Projekte GmbH. The four-story complex is being built on a 3,000 sqm premises on Cecilienallee. Approximately 3,050 sqm of office space, around 360 sqm of archiving and storage space and 60 underground parking spots are projected. The architectural designs were drafted by HPP Hentricht – Petschnigg & Partner. Savills Düsseldorf acted as a consultant for the transaction. The Quantum German City Select 1 fund was issued in January, 2008 for institutional investors and is investing in commercial properties (mainly for offices and trading) in metropolitan regions and selected medium-sized cities in Germany.
Corpus Sireo: Corpus Asset Wohnen goes to Treureal
Corpus Sireo has sold its property management company Corpus Asset Wohnen (Residential) to Treureal Unternehmensgruppe. In the future, the firm will be called Treureal property management Düsseldorf GmbH. Corpus Asset Wohnen's approximately 60 staff members are receiving a two-year job guarantee and will continue the renting and condominium administration of some 10,000 residential and commercial units belonging to Corpus Sireo nationwide. CEO Michael Zimmer explains, "The sale of our property management company enables Corpus Sireo to focus even more intensively than before on asset management."
Düsseldorf: Züblin Development plans third project in Airport City
Züblin Development GmbH is announcing a third office project in the Airport City at the Düsseldorf Airport. At the topping-out ceremony for the second office building "Le Ciel" (about which THOMAS DAILY reported in advance), Division Manager Thomas Auhagen declared that the demand for space is so great that Züblin has acquired another plot for an office building with over 13,000 sqm of lettable area. The area of the Airport City with a total of 23 hectares is to be completely marketed by 2013. At present, more than half of it has already been sold by Flughafen Düsseldorf Immobilien GmbH.
IFM Immobilien: Share capital increase for property portfolio expansion
IFM Immobilien AG, an investor and developer of office and retail properties, is planning an expansion of its property portfolio. The company reports that, for this purpose, its share capital is to be increased by up to 10%, excluding the subscription rights of shareholders. The placing of up to 849,999 new, no-par value shares with institutional investors in an accelerated bookbuilding process is planned. Commerzbank AG is acting as the sole lead manager and book runner for the transaction. IFM Immobilien had announced at the end of April that it was going to enlarge its portfolio, in the medium term, to up to €500mn. Acquisitions are said to be planned in the Rhine/Main/Neckar metropolitan regions and in the office locations Munich, Cologne/Düsseldorf and Hamburg.
GBI AG: Lloyd Fonds acquires two hotel projects in Nuremberg and Berlin
GBI AG has sold two Motel One projects under construction in Nuremberg and Berlin to the Hamburg issuing house Lloyd Fonds AG. The objects are to be integrated into a new Lloyd fund to be started at the end of August. While the Motel One in Nuremberg will already be opened this summer, the completion of the Motel One An der Urania Berlin with more than 410 rooms is scheduled for the end of 2009. The fund has a total investment volume of nearly €36mn. GBI Chairman Reiner Nittka says, "The portfolio with two budget design houses shows a change in the attitude of the investors, who have long since ceased to limit themselves to involvements in hotels with no less than four stars." At the same time, he continues, a letter of intent was signed with Lloyd Fonds for a further Motel One in an as yet unnamed major German city.
Bonn: IVG celebrated topping-out ceremony for "artquadrat" office project
IVG Development has celebrated the topping-out ceremony for its "artquadrat" office project in Bonn. The four-story complex is being built at Emil-Nolde-Strasse 7, on the corner of Josef-Beuys-Allee, in direct proximity to the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany. Approximately 8,700 sqm of lettable area and an underground garage with 165 parking spaces are projected. The architectural designs were drafted by M&P, Mainz. According to previous announcements, the investment volume amounts to some €30mn. Completion is scheduled for the beginning of 2009.
Frankfurt region: C&A rents 1,400 sqm in Hofheim's "Chinon-Center"
C&A is going to be a tenant in the "Chinon Center" shopping center planned by MIB AG in the inner city of Hofheim am Taunus. The firm signed a contract for approximately 1,400 sqm of commercial space. Planning for the project has already been going on for years. MIB AG took over the project from Gagfah and the Scholz Group at the beginning of 2008. A new concept was worked out in collaboration with the DunnettCraven architectural office in London. The revised draft now projects two buildings and a connecting mall with a total of some 8,000 sqm of sales area. Six specialized markets and a full-line distributor are to occupy the larger building, while nine stores, two movie theaters and a restaurant are to move into the smaller one. The opening is slated for fall, 2010.