AEW, acting on behalf of AEW Europe Value Investors II, has purchased Paulinenstraße 50, an office building in Stuttgart, Germany. The transaction is the Fund’s first in Stuttgart and the third in Germany, following the acquisition of the Baseler Palais in Frankfurt and the Accor Building in Munich, and increases EVI II’s assets under management to over €250m with eleven assets in the portfolio. The purchase price was not disclosed.
The seven-storey building has c.6,500m² of lettable space and 78 parking spaces and is 100% leased to state university Duale Hochschule Baden-Wuerttemberg which is AAA rated. Located in Stuttgart’s CBD on the City Ring at the intersection of Paulinenstrasse and Theodor-Heuss-Strasse, the asset is close to the city centre with excellent public transport connections around the city and to the airport. Stuttgart is Germany’s 6th largest city with a historically low unemployment rate and positive demographic growth.
Carsten Czarnetzki, Fund Manager of EVI II at AEW, commented: “This acquisition is perfectly in line with the investment strategy of the Fund, whose focus is to target opportunities in liquid European markets which offer value creation through active asset management. As the third-largest population area in Germany and with strong economic fundamentals, Stuttgart is an attractive market for the Fund.”
Tobias Schnurer, Investment Director at AEW, added: “The acquisition of Paulinenstrasse offers our investors a long-term secured lease contract with excellent creditworthiness and further value creation potential through medium-term asset management activities.”
