Europa Capital has agreed the sale of the Forum Steglitz shopping center to the institutional fund BGV V, a regulated real estate special fund under German investment law managed by Munich-based Real I.S. Investment GmbH. The parties agreed to keep the purchase price confidential.
The 32,000 m² center, the first to be built in the German capital in the early 1970s, is 99% let to tenants including Hennes & Mauritz, Lidl, Rossmann, Innova, Intersport, Tom Tailor and Spiele Max. Europa Capital purchased the property in July 2009, from UK REIT Hammerson, following their withdrawal from Germany.
Europa engaged Real-ity GmbH as leasing and asset manager and their principals took an equity interest alongside Europa. During their four-year ownership, Europa and Real-ity executed some 40 leasing transactions, a combination of renewals and new lettings, to create an optimal tenant mix with a greater fashion weighting, while non-recoverable expenses were reduced dramatically.
Tom Vail, senior asset manager in Europa’s Middle Europe region, commented “This sale represents the successful culmination of four years’ intensive asset management in a challenging environment. Occupation has been increased after an extensive modernization of the center from just over 80% to 99%. Its position in the Schlossstrasse retail hierarchy has, despite new and exciting competition nearby, been asserted.
Joachim M. Fritz, executive director and Global Head of Structured Investments at Real I.S. AG, the asset management provider to the purchaser, commented “Forum Steglitz shopping center fits perfectly into the fund strategy of the purchaser, which is a regulated institutional real estate fund under management by Real I.S. Schlosstrasse is one of the best functioning retail precincts in the capital city of Berlin and the shopping center offers a sustainable and top quality retailer mix which provides for an attractive and secure long-term cash flow to our investors and an auspicious outlook for this major retail investment."
Source: RLM Finsbury
