Nordic Strategies Fund, the pan-Nordic fund advised by real estate investment manager Nordic Real Estate Partners (NREP), has acquired land for the development of a 44,000 m² retail center from Danish property company Nordicom. The acquisition is the first investment of the NREP Nordic Strategies Fund, which recently held its first closing. The development is expected to have a total value upon completion of approximately DKK 1 billion (approx. €130 million).
Construction of the new retail center, called DISA, began in April this year and the center is expected to open in October 2015. The retail center is 80% pre-let to 15 strong tenants and negotiations for the letting of the remaining units are under way, with the expectation that the center will be fully let during the course of 2014. The project is developed together with local development partner NPV and construction is done on a turn-key contract basis with CASA, a Danish construction company that NREP has worked with in the past.
‘The DISA center will be a unique retail area in Copenhagen. In contrast to other Nordic markets, municipal authorities in Denmark have been very restrictive with zoning for any kind of big-box retail, even single stand-alone buildings in non-central locations. Having received all the permissions for a large cohesive strategically planned open-air big box retail area is extraordinary, in particular given the strong location. In this way, DISA contrasts with existing big-box retail assets in Copenhagen, as evidenced by the type of tenants the center has attracted. For example, clothes retailer H&M has previously not used big box locations in Denmark, but has chosen DISA’, says Rasmus Nørgaard, CIO at NREP.
The location at the intersection between the main ring road and one of the arterial roads leading in to the city makes the DISA center easily accessible from all parts of Copenhagen. Furthermore, the center is located adjacent to an existing commuter train line station as well as the station of one additional future line that is under development. ’
The DISA acquisition is a continuation of NREP’s investment strategy in the retail sector. Funds advised by NREP has in the past 18 months acquired retail assets for a total value of approximately €235 million and NREP expects to continue investing heavily into necessity driven and infrastructure anchored retail assets that offer possibilities to drive value creation through hands on asset management’ says Mikkel Bülow-Lehnsby, CEO at NREP.
Source: Nordic Real Estate Partners
