Union Investment has sold the Plaza Pilke and Plaza Hehku office buildings in Helsinki. The properties are located in the Aviapolis submarket close to the airport and have a combined rental area of some 11,000m². The sales price is over €34m which is above the most recent expert valuation for both properties. Since acquiring the office buildings at the end of 2010 and end of 2011, Union Investment has held them in its institutional open-ended real estate fund UniInstitutional European Real Estate. Catella Property Oy brokered the transaction on behalf of the vendor.
Both Plaza Pilke and Plaza Hehku were completed in 2011 and form part of the Plaza Business Park, which consists of five commercial properties in total. At the time of sale, the approximately 5,000m² Plaza Pilke office building was occupied by 14 companies and 85% let. Plaza Hehku is likewise a multi-tenant property and currently used by 21 tenants. The 6,000m² building has an occupancy rate of 97%.
The two sales have enabled Union Investment to further reduce the age of its Finnish portfolio. In terms of potential new acquisitions, the Helsinki metropolitan area continues to be of interest to the Hamburg-based real estate investment manager. Expansion of the portfolio is a declared goal for the future.
