Commerz Real has acquired the so-called “Millennium Portfolio” comprising 49 office, residential and retail properties in premium locations in German metropolises for its open-ended real estate fund Hausinvest. The purchase price was not disclosed.
“We were able to acquire this portfolio, which is quite unique in terms of its quality, for our investors because we made optimum use of our strengths,” explained Andreas Muschter, the chief executive officer of Commerz Real. “It was a question of acting quickly, in a professional, focussed and reliable manner, in order to rapidly offer the seller transaction security. We will continue to keep Hausinvest open for new investors for precisely such opportunities.”
The Millennium Portfolio comprises 26 office, 14 residential and 9 retail trading properties with a total leasable area of more than 352,000m² in inner-city locations in the Top 7 cities Berlin, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich and Stuttgart, as well as in Giessen, Leipzig and Unterhaching. The properties are mainly between 5,000m² and more than 10,000m² in size, with the majority (about 61%) built or modernised after the year 2000. The occupancy rate across all the properties is c.93%. The portfolio is also diversified in terms of its tenant structure.
“Ultimately we were able to assert our bid in a very competitive process,” said a visibly pleased Henning Koch, Global Head of Transactions at Commerz Real. “The portfolio is perfectly geared to our investment strategy of increasing the share of German properties in the fund and in doing so achieving the best possible mix of all usage types.”
According to Commerz Real this is the biggest real estate transaction in the company’s history. Fund manager Mario Schuttauf said: “This thoroughly high-calibre acquisition will stabilize Hausinvest’s yield. The objective is, above all, to hold on to the more than 1,000 apartments in the long term. We intend to reassure the tenants, and also the municipal authorities and local councils, and give them the necessary security that there will not now be measures to maximise the short-term profitability. Commerz Real is now moving significantly closer to its declared goal of investing around two billion euros in the residential sector in the next four years.”
