Redevco Central Europe is to purchase the Generali Center on Vienna's Mariahilfer Straße from Generali Versicherung AG, with effect from 1 December 2007. The shopping and office center, built in 1977 in a prime Viennese shopping location, comprises almost 5,000 m² of sales area and over 8,900 m² of office space. A car park offering more than 220 parking spaces also forms part of the center, which was completely renovated in 2003.
Generali Center´s fame has spread far beyond Austria's capital on account of its 'Straße der Sieger' - Vienna´s Walk of Fame celebrating sports heroes. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
This latest acquisition will bring the real estate portfolio of Vienna-based Redevco Central Europe to well above 300 million. "We regard this as another milestone on the road to firmly establishing our position as retail real estate investor and developer in Austria and Central Europe," says Jörg F. Bitzer, Managing Director of Redevco Central Europe. "Mariahilfer Straße is one of Europe's prime shopping streets."
The name of the center, which houses many major retailers such as Nike, Swarovski and supermarket Zielpunkt, will remain unchanged. "The Generali Center is a landmark in Vienna. We are happy and proud to be able to continue to use a name that is so familiar to customers and tourists from all over the world," says Bitzer.
Redevco Central Europe is part of Redevco Europe, a real estate investment and development group based in Amsterdam that is active in more than 20 European countries. Redevco´s total portfolio currently comprises some 800 properties, with an estimated value of more than 7 billion.
Generali Versicherung will use the proceeds of the sale to finance further forward-looking real estate investments. Says Klaus Edelhauser, Director of Generali Real Estate: "We look to the future in the composition of our real estate portfolio. We are very happy to have found a long-term partner for the GENERALI Center in REDEVCO." Generali subsidiary Allgemeine Immobilien-Verwaltung (AIV) will continue to manage the centre, on behalf of Redevco.
Source: Redevco
