Benson Elliot has sold Turmcenter, its landmark CBD Frankfurt office building, for €155m. The asset was sold to a global investor advised by UBS, and has delivered an equity multiple of 3.5x to Benson Elliot investors. The 21-storey high-rise tower was acquired vacant in December 2013, with the intention to undertake a comprehensive re-development of the asset. Benson Elliot executed its value-add plan entirely in-house, implementing an innovative technical design with unrivalled energy savings. The finished product has delivered 17,300m² of exceptionally efficient floorplates, with state-of-the-art specifications and services.
Turmcenter opened in May 2016 and was awarded LEED Gold Certification for its environmental achievements. Tenants include the Deutscher Fußball Bund, advertising agency Spark44, law firm Fieldfisher LLP and boutique investment bank VictoriaPartners.
Joseph De Leo, Benson Elliot Senior Partner, said: “This marks another successful transaction for Benson Elliot in Germany and is illustrative of what we do best: we identified an institutional quality asset in need of a creative re-development approach, in a market with strong fundamentals. We implemented a hands-on value enhancement strategy, brought the asset down the risk curve and delivered it back into the core market. We are extremely pleased with the institutional quality of the product we have delivered, and the strong lease-up pace and successful exit are a testament to that.”
Georg Strassner, Principal and Head of Germany at Benson Elliot, said: “Benson Elliot is committed to investing in sustainable buildings and our re-development of Turmcenter has set a new environmental standard in the property industry for energy efficiency. Not only is Turmcenter one of the most energy-efficient office buildings in Germany, but it also offers high quality and flexible features, which create a work environment suitable to a wide range of tenants.”
