Bayerische Versorgungskammer has completed the freehold acquisition of a seven-story retail and office building on via Dante 16, one of Milan's main high streets, for €55m through a separate account mandate advised by Hines in partnership with IDeA FIMIT.
The 5,992m2 (64,500ft2) 19th century building is located just south of the Castello Sforzesco in central Milan and close to Piazza Cordusio and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele. The property is almost fully leased, and will undergo redevelopment to create a flagship high-street store with office space at the higher floors.
Michael Topham, CEO of Hines Europe, said: "Italy has long been and continues to be a strategic market for Hines. The closing of this transaction helps to further strengthen our retail and expand our geographical reach across Italy."
Lars Huber, CO-CEO of Hines Europe, added: "Italy represents an attractive market with significant potential. The quality of the building coupled with its excellent location and diverse income profile from both retail and office tenants make this asset a compelling proposition for BVK."
This transaction is the second acquisition by Hines for BVK, who appointed the investor earlier this year to execute a €1.3bn separate account mandate targeting prime high-street retail property across Europe. Commenting at the time of the appointment, Norman Fackelmann, department head of real estate investment management at BVK, said: “As a business we are committed to growing our exposure to the high street retail market. It is a sector which offers attractive fundamentals, and there are good opportunities to source value add assets in strategic locations for long-term investing. Hines represents the perfect fit for executing this strategy given the strong track record in asset level value creation across a broad range of markets.”
The Milan acquisition follows the purchase of an iconic building on Oslo's Karl Johans gate in December 2015 which was secured as a sale and leaseback from Landkreditt Bank for €52m.
