Portfolios: "Sales process resuming for Leo III"
The State of Hesse has put its "Leo III" property package back on the market. Minister of Finance Karlheinz Weimar (CDU) told the daily newspaper Financial Times Deutschland (FTD), "We are resuming the sales process." A sale is being sought before the end of the year. The State is targeting a sale price of approximately €400mn for the 35 to 40 properties - the first attempted sale, last year, attained maximum offers amounting to 10 to 15% less than this. According to the FTD, the objects produce a net rent, without utilities, of €24mn to €25mn and returns of 6.25%. HSH Real Estate AG and Atisreal were again commissioned to do the marketing. The budget committee of the parliament of Hesse approved the sale at the end of May, but the Green Party abstained. It wants to wait for concrete offers and then decide for or against a sale and lease back of the state-owned properties.
Frankfurt: Significant rise in office space take-up
In the first half of 2008, the Frankfurt office market had a considerably higher take-up of office space than during the same period in 2007. The brokerage houses Colliers Schön & Lopez Schmitt and Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) calculated a take-up of 278,000 sqm and 270,000 sqm, respectively. Colliers recorded a growth rate of 42% compared to the first half of 2007, while JLL registered only 26%. According to JLL, it is noteworthy that seven of the ten largest deals made between January and June were concluded in the second quarter, and that only two of them concerned existing buildings. The total take-up during the second quarter of 2008 reached approximately 170,000 sqm - 70,000 sqm more than during the first quarter. For the entire year, JLL expects about the same take-up as during the prior year (some 550,000 sqm), assuming construction begins on the new headquarters of the European Central Bank, with 70,000 sqm of owner-used area. JLL quotes present peak rents at €37/sqm, rising to €38/sqm for the second half of the year.
Degi: Fund acquires retail center for €40mn
Degi, owned by Aberdeen Property Investors Group, has acquired the "Einkaufswelt Andernach" specialized market center in Andernach (Rhineland-Palatinate, West Germany) for approximately €40mn. The property will be integrated into the open fund Degi German Business. The center, built between 1998 and 2007 on premises measuring around 67,000 sqm, has a gross lettable area of some 24,700 sqm and 940 parking spaces. According to Degi, the center is completely rented. The principle and anchor tenants are Kaufland, Lidl and Plus. Degi was advised during the transaction by Atag Klöckner & Cie.
Kassel: Dutch investor buys "Kurfürsten Galerie" shopping center
A Dutch investor has acquired the "Kurfürsten Galerie" shopping center in Kassel from the german insurances Nürnberger Lebensversicherung and SV SparkassenVersicherung Gebäudeversicherung. The shopping center, opened in 1991 in the inner city, has 21,300 sqm of lettable area of which 5,000 sqm is for retail, 3,000 sqm for wellness and leisure facilities, 2,000 sqm for gastronomy and 1,000 sqm for culture, as well as 600 parking spaces located in a three level underground garage. Among the tenants are a casino (Spielbank Kassel) and a Mövenpick Hotel with 128 rooms and seven function rooms. Colliers Bräutigam & Krämer mediated the transaction.
Berlin: DeWAG acquires 370 apartments in Wilmersdorf and Steglitz
The Stuttgart based DeWAG group has acquired two property portfolios with a total of 370 apartments and three commercial units in the districts of Wilmersdorf and Steglitz. The properties are in modernized older buildings and have a total of 22,000 sqm of living space; the commercial space measures 400 sqm. The objects, built at the beginning of the 20th century - some as late as the 1960s - had previously belonged to the Pirelli Group. DeWAG intends to continue the modernization measures begun by the seller.
Berlin: Cornerstone to be laid in July for apartment project in Kreuzberg
According to BayWoBau Berlin, the cornerstone is to be laid for the "Brauhofgarten" project in Kreuzberg's "Viktoria Quartier" in mid-July. Eleven five to six-story buildings with a total of 105 residential units and 13,000 sqm of living space are projected. The investment sum is quoted at €40mn. Designs for the project are by the architect Stephan Höhne. Baywobau's press officer for the project said that nearly 20% of the apartments have been sold. Completion of the entire complex is slated for 2010. The almost five hectare "Viktoria Quartier" is located on the grounds of the former Schultheiss brewery, south of Viktoriapark. The cornerstone for the first phase of construction was laid in 1999.
Open-ended funds: Capital inflow falls to €129mn in May
At €128.6mn, an unusually small amount of money flowed into open-ended property funds this May after €480mn had been raised as recently as in April and as much as €1bn in May of 2007. The reduction is due above all to the Commerz Real Investmentfondsgesellschaft, that had fund influx drop by around €726mn. On the other hand, SEB Immobilien-Investment led the sector with an influx of €141mn.