Westbrook Partners and Cornerstone Real Estate Advisers GmbH (Cornerstone Germany) have acquired the Vattenfall headquarters at Chausseestrasse 23, in Berlin-Mitte, in a joint venture, in which the management team of Cornerstone Germany is participating.
The vendor is Vattenfall GmbH, which has taken a lease of the entire building. Cornerstone Germany is taking over the asset management of the property.
The office building, built in a prominent corner location in 1998, provides a lettable area of approximately 18,500m² as well as approximately 100 underground car parking spaces. The property is located in an up-and-coming area of Berlin-Mitte, close to several federal ministries and the central railway station. This metropolitan environment provides a lively cultural, residential, café/restaurant, office and retail offering.
Grossmann & Berger advised the vendor. Hogan Lovells acted as legal adviser to the purchasers. Berlin Hyp has financed the transaction.
Nick Puschkasch, branch manager of Cornerstone Germany's Eastern region, commented: "With this transaction, we have not only made an interesting investment in one of Berlin's fastest-developing areas but have also acquired a new client, Westbrook Partners, for Cornerstone Germany. We are delighted with this new collaboration."
Ruben Herrmann, principal of Westbrook Partners, said: "We are very pleased to continue our investment activities in Germany with this further acquisition. Together with such a strong partner as Cornerstone, we are delighted to acquire this outstanding property in a very good location with Vattenfall as tenant."
Gunther Deutsch, head of investment transactions Europe at Cornerstone, added: "We are pleased to have successfully concluded this transaction with the team from Westbrook Partners and Vattenfall. We were able to work together to develop a lease structure that takes into account the requirements of both the tenant and the new owners of the property. This transaction marks our first acquisition of a single-tenant property in Germany. We plan to make further comparable investments in the future."
Gero Bergmann, member of the management board of Berlin Hyp, commented: "We have every confidence in the expertise and strategy of the joint venture between Cornerstone and Westbrook Partners and are pleased to be acting as financing partner."
