Henderson has acquired a fully let retail warehouse in the Austrian city of Fürstenfeld (Styria) from ARW Bauprojekt GmbH.
The property, purchased from ARW Bauprojekt GmbH, comprises close to 15,000 m². It consists of one existing building and a newly developed extension, which opened about three months ago. The existing building is currently being extensively refurbished by the vendor.
Its main tenants include well-known fashion brands such as C&A, Fussl, New Yorker and the sports goods retailer Intersport as well a modern unit of the chemist Müller. The remaining lease lengths amount to 6.5 years on average. The property was bought on behalf of Warburg - Henderson Österreich Fonds Nr. 2.
For the same Fund, Henderson has also acquired a shopping unit - Intersport Eybl - in Vienna, from Deka Immobilien GmbH. The property provides over 10,400 m² and is fully let to Austria's leading sports goods retailer, Intersport Eybl, with a remaining lease length of 12 years. The purchase price for both retail assets was undisclosed.
Warburg - Henderson Österreich Fonds Nr. 2 was launched in summer 2010 with a total equity target of 300 million.
Clemens Rumpler, Head of Property Investment Austria, Henderson, said: "Retail sales growth in Austria has been growing slowly but reliably over the last couple of years. Forecasts suggest that this trend will continue. Austria benefits from the strength of the German economy as well as higher growth rates in their main trading partners in Central and Eastern Europe. We like the stable and broad base of retailers, giving a good scope for tenant engineering.
"In particular the retail warehouse sector benefits from the improved quality of new and refurbished assets attracting new retailers, previously focused on shopping centers and high streets. Pricing is attractive as only few international investors are active in Austria at all and many local investors and banks are hamstrung by exposure to risky investments dating from the boom years."
Source: Henderson Global Investors
