HIH Invest Real Estate has acquired the MILESTONE 5c office development in a central location of Freiburg. It involves a six-storey office building with an additional recessed storey and a single-storey underground car park that will be constructed on Heinrich-von-Stephan-Strasse in direct proximity to the central railway station of Freiburg. The property, under development by STRABAG Real Estate, is scheduled to be completed by the second quarter of 2023. Its gross lettable area will add up to 7,711m². The basement will include 64 car parking spots and plant rooms. A two-storey day nursery will occupy certain sections on the ground floor and the floor above. The property has already achieved a pre-let ratio of over 90%, with public-sector tenants accounting for 65% thereof – among them the state-owned enterprises Bundesbau Baden-Wurttemberg and Vermogen und Bau Baden-Wurttemberg. Other tenants include the German Red Cross. The property already has a DGNB Gold certification.
Daniel Asmus, Team Leader Transaction Management Germany at HIH Invest Real Estate, commented: “The development represents an attractive investment for our real estate portfolio. The centrality of the site in the inner city of Freiburg implies very convenient access to the public transportation system and close proximity to the central railway station, making Heinrich-von-Stephan-Strasse an attractive office location. The MILESTONE 5c, as part of the BUSINESSMILE development, implements various office formats, including private offices, combination offices and bull pens along with generously proportioned open-plan units. The fit-out of all units can be customised to meet the specific requirements of any given tenant. Accordingly, the office units provide a maximum in flexibility and alternative use potential, and we expect the units that are still available to be let soon."
The office building offers staff plenty of amenities and very convenient infrastructure access. It is part of the BUSINESSMILE site where STRABAG Real Estate is developing an office quarter with a total lettable area of about 47,500m². The quarter faces the highly frequented Heinrich-von-Stephan-Strasse, one of the most important office and services localities in the inner city of Freiburg. Due to its location, the quarter has excellent transportation access to the motorway, railway, and public transportation networks.
“We are pleased with the amazingly positive response to BUSINESSMILE as a whole, this latest sale to HIH Invest being a good case in point. All of the seven MILESTONE office schemes we developed have now been sold, and the kind of demand we have seen among office occupiers could not be stronger. What attracts companies is specifically the central location and its vibrant mix of uses. With the most recent lease signings in place, only about 500m² are still available at the quarter,” said Martin Lauble, Head of Division at STRABAG Real Estate in Freiburg.
“The acquisition of the DGNB Gold certified property MILESTONE 5c helps us implement the ESG strategy of the institutional fund. The modern and energy-efficient property offers tenants high-end customizable accommodation. It also delivers the social component that we integrated into our investment strategy in the form of a two-storey day nursery plus an annexed outdoor playground,” said Oliver Scholtz, Senior Fund Manager at HIH Invest.
