Barings has sold Chausseestrasse 23 / Zinnowitzer Strasse 2 property located in central Berlin to a fund managed by Credit Suisse Asset Management. Barings acquired the seven-story office building almost three years ago on behalf of an institutional investor as part of a core investment strategy. Built in 1998, the 19,400m² property is fully let to Vattenfall. Vattenfall is vacating the property post the completion of its new headquarter building at Berlin-Sudkreuz. The purchase price was not disclosed.
“We completed the initial phase of our business plan for Chausseestrasse 23, which included the carving out of an additional 1,500m² of rental space and an agreed early departure of Vattenfall to secure a reversionary interest. The strength of the Berlin market led us to sell the asset at an earlier stage of the business plan, thereby delivering attractive returns for our client,” said Christoph Wittkop, Barings Managing Director and Real Estate Country Head - Germany.
“Having identified this opportunity in 2017 on behalf of one of our investors we have applied our unique active asset management expertise to deliver attractive returns. The market in Berlin remains strong and forms an important part of our European strategy, which will continue to focus on logistics, office, as well as residential and student housing in 2020 across the risk spectrum from core to value add,” commented Gunther Deutsch, Managing Director and Head of Transactions Europe.
“The Berlin office market is characterised by historically low vacancy rates. Large areas available at short notice are limited, especially in prime locations. This property offers repositioning potential that can be realized in the short to medium term and enables us to provide the Berlin office market with attractive, modern office space,” said Holger Herb, Head of Real Estate EMEA at Credit Suisse Asset Management.
