Industry News

KGAL Investment Management GmbH & Co. KG has acquired the fully-leased 9,200 sqm office property Westerlaan 10 (W10) on behalf of a pan-European fund. The property, which is located in the city centre and has a high-quality interior, has been the corporate headquarters of Vopak for many years. The internationally active, listed group extended its lease for 15 years in 2020. With the largest port in Europe, Rotterdam is considered "Europe's gateway to the world"; around 54,000 companies are located...

Commerz Real has acquired a 25% stake in the Elbtower high-rise development by SIGNA Real Estate in Hamburg's HafenCity district for its open-ended real estate fund Hausinvest. Construction of the mixed-use high-rise building at Elbbrücken, designed by David Chipperfield Architects, is scheduled to start in early 2023 and to be completed by the end of 2025. The pit is currently being excavated. Three years before completion, the pre-letting rate is already over 40% (the rate for the office space is...

Europa Capital, the pan-European real estate investment manager, together with their joint venture partner, ARC Real Estate Partners, announces the off-market sale of a light industrial portfolio of 15 assets (the “Portfolio”) in the Netherlands, on behalf of its value add fund, Europa Fund V (the “Fund”), to BOREAL. The Portfolio, which constitutes the entirety of the Fund’s Dutch Light Industrial Platform (“DLIP”), comprises a total of c. 143,000 sq m of lettable space across 15 buildings that are rated...

Catella Residential Investment Management’s (CRIM) open-ended pan-European fund has bought a Dutch office tower to redevelop for residential use. The Catella European Residential III Fund (CER III) has acquired the Ceylonpoort office tower in Haarlem, near Amsterdam, for €65m. The former office of publisher VNU was acquired from developer Wedda. The redevelopment of the tower, which is scheduled for completion in mid-2024, will accommodate 162 apartments, 536sqm commercial space, and a three-level parking garage for residents. Paul van Stiphout, fund...

HIH Invest Real Estate (“HIH Invest”) just acquired a residential development in Wuppertal on behalf of the “Deutschland Wohnen Invest” institutional fund from its developer, TEAMRHEINRUHR Projektentwicklung GmbH. The property, which will deliver 5,025 square metres of dwelling floor area, is located on Münzstrasse in the Barmen district. The development will create 60 residential units inside a five-storey building that will meet the “KfW Efficiency House 40 EE” standard. It is supplemented by a listed live-in signal box upgraded to...

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc, announces it has completed a deal to provide £72.5 million in funding to Peaks & Plains Housing Trust (‘Peaks & Plains’), a social landlord based in Macclesfield, Cheshire. The agreement will enable Peaks & Plains, which manages over 5000 homes across East Cheshire and the High Peak, to continue delivering on its plans for communities across three local authority areas in Cheshire, as well as Derbyshire, High Peak in the...

CBRE Investment Management has appointed Krijn Taconis in a key position to boost business for the firm. As head of transactions in the Netherlands, he will focus on business development and ‘complex’ acquisition and disposal processes, while also working with EMEA teams and being part of the firm’s Dutch leadership It is a return to the fold for Taconis who spent 11 years at the company as executive director and head of retail in Amsterdam. He left in May 2018...

As part of its ongoing development strategy to widen its market coverage and address a broader range of international institutional investors, Primonial REIM has appointed four new team members to strengthen its business development unit. Alexander Tilson has been appointed as managing director, business development, Primonial REIM UK, based in London. He will focus on international investors located in the UK, Scandinavia and Benelux. Tilson has almost 20 years’ experience in European private real estate capital raising and investing. Before...

Immobel Capital Partners, the London-based investment management business of Immobel Group announces the appointment of Melinda Knatchbull as Chief Financial and Operating Officer. In her new role she will be responsible for the financial, operational and risk aspects of Immobel Capital Partners activities. Melinda has over 25 years experience in the fund management industry, with the last 20 focused on real estate. She has spent circa 20 years working alongside Duncan Owen, CEO of Immobel Capital Partners. Melinda will work...