News from 07/25/2008
Brandenburg: Danish investor acquires vacation properties for €20mn
A Danish private investor has acquired 100 vacation properties on the edge of Lake Scharmützelsee in Brandenburg from the Kristensen Group Deutschland, which quoted the purchase price at €20mn. The houses and apartments are located in the Kristensen Group’s vacation park in the Schlosspark Bad Saarow and the Marinapark Scharmützelsee in Wendisch-Riedtz. The Scharmützelsee is the largest lake in Brandenburg, situated between Frankfurt an der Oder and Berlin, south of Fürstenwalde an der Spree. Per Barlag Arnholm, the managing shareholder of the Kristensen Group Deutschland, commented that, “The investment shows that Danes trust the German market,” adding that German vacation homes are attractive because prices in Germany are currently lower than in Denmark.
Stuttgart: DFH acquires office building for €25.7mn
Deutsche Fonds Holding AG, Stuttgart, has acquired the office building at Friedrichstrasse 22 in the Mitte district of Stuttgart. It quoted the purchase price at approximately €25.7mn. The property was built in 1992 and has some 10,300 sqm of lettable area which is rented until the end of 2020 to Dresdner Bank AG. The bank is using the building as an administrative center. The building is to be integrated into a closed property fund that is to be put on the market in fall, 2008.
Nuremberg: Mutschler celebrates topping out for “City Park Center”
Mutschler-Gruppe, Ulm, is celebrating the topping out of its shopping and commercial project called “City Park Center“ in the Tafelhof district of Nuremberg. The site of the project is the former location of the “Klausfelder” department store on the corner of Sandstrasse and Zeltnerstrasse. A new building with a total usable area of approximately 18,500 sqm and 515 parking spots is being constructed and will provide shopping, leisure and medical office space. Completion is scheduled for the end of the year. According to previous announcements, the investment volume runs to around €40mn. SIC! Schmitt Immobilien Consulting GmbH has been commissioned to market the space. Rewe and Aldi have already signed on as anchor tenants.
Baywobau: Go-ahead given for “Brauhofgarten” in Berlin's Viktoria Quartier
With the laying of the cornerstone, Baywobau has started construction on the €40mn “Brauhofgarten” in the western part of the Viktoria Quartier in Berlin's Kreuzberg district. The design by the Berlin architect Stephan Höhne shows 105 residential units with a total of 13,000 sqm of living space. The average price per square meter in the Brauhofgarten runs to €2,900.
Office market: Highest half year results in the last six years
The demand for space on the five biggest German office markets kept on rising in the first half of this year. In Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Munich, Hamburg and Berlin, 1.358mn sqm were taken up from January until June, DTZ reported. “This is the highest value for half a year in the last six years,” said Jörg Nehls, CEO of DTZ Deutschland. During the first half of 2007, approximately 1.2mn sqm were taken up; according to DTZ, the average value for the first six months during the years 2003 to 2007 was 970,000 sqm. It observed the highest take up for the first half of 2008 in Munich at 396,000 sqm, followed by Hamburg (281,000 sqm), Frankfurt 273,000 sqm), Düsseldorf (207,000 sqm) and Berlin (201,000 sqm). Compared to the half-year average over the last five years, it said that these results represent an increase for all five markets. The greatest increase, it continued, was recorded in Düsseldorf (66% more than the five-year average), the lowest in Berlin (+12%). Vacancy rates continued to drop on all five markets, to 6,539mn sqm at the beginning of July. This, DTZ explained, was 1.4% less than three months ago, and 2.4% less than at the beginning of 2008. Regarding peak rents, however, the level remained steady, despite continued high demand. Only in choice locations in Munich and Düsseldorf did the prices climb slightly.