News from 12/12/2008
Listed property companies: 65% drop in average stock price in 2008
In 2008, Prime Standard compliant real estate company stock values plunged by approximately 65%, according to an analysis made by Kirchhoff Consult AG. Estavis was hardest hit with an 87% setback, followed by Colonia Real Estate (-86%) and IVG (-85%). The smallest losses were booked by FranconoWest (-5%), Deutsche Euroshop (-9%) and Alta Fides (-15%). The price development was not dependent on the market cap of the enterprises. Thus, the heavyweight IVG lands in the third-to-last place, Gagfah occupies an intermediate ranking and Deutsche Euroshop is second best. Among the three best firms, FranconoWest has a free float of 8.6% and Alta Fides only 1.2%. Due to the international mortgage crisis, investors have been systematically avoiding real estate company shares since the second half of 2007. Those companies were already among the losers last year, with an average decline of 30%. This trend was significantly aggravated by the worldwide financial crisis in 2008.
Hamburg: Ikea apparently planning third branch
According to reports in the local media, the Swedish furniture chain Ikea is planning to open a third branch in Hamburg. Talks are now going on regarding the Frappant complex on Grosse Bergstrasse in the Altona district, which has been vacant for years. The radio station NDR 90.3 reported that the complex built in the ‘70s is to be demolished and replaced by a new building. The owner, Immo Trading GmbH seated in Munich, has basically given its approval. Ikea does not wish to comment on the plans until January. At the same time, the firm k-Werkstatt, which had been seen as interested in the property, is said to be out of the running; an Immo Trading spokesperson told the daily newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt that the deal with k-Werkstatt has fallen through. K-Werkstatt was planning a partial demolition of the Frappant complex in order to build the retail space and apartments for the “Christians-Quarter.” At the beginning of December, however, it was announced that the 60% rented floor space threshold necessary for this project had not been attained.
Hamburg: Union Investment wants to expand Wandsbek Quarree for €30mn
The shopping center “Wandsbek Quarree” in the Wandsbek district of Hamburg is to be expanded by 7,500 sqm by early in 2010, thus attaining a total usable area of approximately 40,000 sqm. Union Investment, the owner of the center, also wants to use the €30mn project to renovate the façade on Wandsbeker Marktstrasse to create a unified design. Pirelli RE was commissioned to be the project developer. It will also take over the property, center and facility management of the five-story extension. According to Pirelli, a clothing store has already signed on as the principle tenant of the new floor space and will occupy 4,500 sqm of lettable area. The remaining space is to be used for the restructuring and enlargement of floor space for the present tenants.
OFB Projektentwicklung: Marketing contract for Frankfurt’s Messeturm
The developer OFB Projektentwicklung was commissioned by GLL Real Estate – as the representative of the owner – to market the Messeturm in Frankfurt. As has now been announced by OFB, a Helaba subsidiary, the 257 m tall office tower with 82,600 sqm of gross floor area was already integrated into its marketing portfolio back in October. OFB also reported that within the framework of its own office projects, it has rented out approximately 45,000 sqm in Frankfurt in 2008. This is about one tenth of the total office space take-up in the metropolis on the Main. The City of Frankfurt and the U.S. insurance concern AIG alone each rented some 10,000 sqm of office space in projects at the Westhafen (Western Harbor).
Frankfurt/Rhine-Main: Draft for Regional Zoning Plan passed
The board of the Planning Association of the Frankfurt Rhine-Main Metropolitan Area has now passed the draft for the Regional Zoning Plan. Compared to the preliminary draft, the space planned for residential construction was reduced from 3,300 to 2,500 hectares (-25%), and the space for commercial construction from 2,800 to 2,200 hectares (-21%). For a while, however, the planning association had intended to restrict development areas in the region even further, as TD reported earlier. Residential areas in the northeastern part of the zoning region, which includes 75 communities as well as residential areas far from principle public highways, were taken off the list. The Chamber of the Planning Association and the Regional Assembly of Southern Hesse will debate the draft in February, 2009. The plans are then to be presented to the public from the middle of May until the middle of July. The definitive decision is slated for 2010. The plan is to remain valid until 2020.
SEB: Swedes seek buyers for their German branches
The Swedish bank SEB is considering the sale of its private customer business in Germany. The daily newspaper Handelsblatt quoted representatives from financial circles as saying, “Whether or not a sale will come about is to be decided at the beginning of the coming year.” The concern is said to have commissioned Morgan Stanley to sound out the market for possible buyers for its 174 branches. Some initial interest has apparently been shown by parties coming from France, Spain and Germany, but no official sales procedure has as yet been launched. Up to now, SEB and Morgan Stanley have refused to make any comments.
Berlin: Hotel planned for Knesebeckstrasse in Charlottenburg
Berlin-based Lorenz Bruckner Grundstücks GmbH is planning to erect a hotel called “Le Savigny” at Knesebeckstrasse 81 in the Charlottenburg district. It is to be developed in the vicinity of Savignyplatz as an eight-story building with 75 double rooms and four penthouse rooms, with a lounge, a restaurant and a bar on the ground floor. The design for the hotel with a projected usable area of 3,760 sqm is by CollignonArchitektur. The discussed operator of the facility will be 25hours Hotel Company, seated in Frankfurt am Main. A building permit is expected shortly.
Bremen: Gewoba acquires 60 residential and commercial units
The Bremen-based residential firm Gewoba Aktiengesellschaft Wohnen und Bauen, in which the city is the majority shareholder, has acquired the “Beginenhof” in the Neustadt district of Bremen. The property has for years already been administered by Gewoba on commission from the insolvency administrator Detlef Stürmann. The principle creditor is the savings bank Sparkasse Bremen. According to Gewoba, 45 one- to three-room apartments with an average size of 53 sqm as well as 15 commercial units were acquired. The purchase is said to be a part of the firm’s strategic orientation towards expanding its property portfolio from some 40,400 apartments now held at choice locations. This year, 528 apartments have already been acquired, 107 of them in Bremen and 327 in Oldenburg. At the beginning of December, 2008, the firm’s supervisory board decided that Gewoba’s portfolio can be enlarged by 700 units annually.