Industry News

Immobel has completed the sale of the BREEAM outstanding office building known as Commerce 46, through a share deal. Located at the heart of the European quarter in Brussels, the 14.200 sqm asset was acquired by Allianz. Vincent Wathelet, head of Belux for Allianz Real Estate, commented: 'Acquiring this Grade A Core asset in the heart of Brussels’ stable European Quarter provides geographic diversification within our portfolio and Commerce 46 reflects the model of the future office in which we...

ICG Real Estate has appointed Madeleine Cosgrave as a senior adviser to provide strategic investment advice and support the team’s growth. Cosgrave previously spent over 20 years at GIC Real Estate, serving most recently as head of Europe and a member of the company’s global investment committee. She also spent 10 years at JLL prior to joining GIC, working as an associate director. She has also acted as an adviser to CBRE Investment Management’s EMEA investment committee, and as a...

Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc (‘Aviva’), announces it has appointed David Hedalen as Head of Real Assets Research. Based in London, David will report to Melanie Collett, Managing Director, Asset Management, Real Assets, at Aviva Investors. He will be responsible for providing strategic research leadership across the full breadth of Aviva Investors’ £43 billion Real Assets platform ensuring research continues to play a critical role in informing and shaping the firm’s investment decisions and delivery...

Hines, a global real estate investment, development, and property manager, has appointed Marc Sampietro to lead the operations of aparto, its fully owned student accommodation platform, in Italy, Spain, UK and Ireland. Student housing remains a strategic focus at Hines with the firm expanding to Italy and Spain this year with the launch of aparto Milan Giovenale and aparto Barcelona Pallars, respectively. In total, aparto operates 16 student accommodation sites across UK, Ireland, Italy, and Spain. Marc joined Hines two...

Savills Investment Management (“Savills IM”), the international real estate investment manager, has hired Lucy Williams as Head of Client Capital, UK. Based in London, she will report to Giuseppe Oriani, Co-Head of Client Capital (EMEA) and join the firm in November. Lucy has over 25 years’ experience in business development, capital raising, account management and investor relations, including 15 years in real estate fund management. She joins Savills IM from M&G Real Estate, where she was most recently Head of...

DWS has appointed Richard Marshall as head of infrastructure research, effective immediately. Marshall joins from Fitch Solutions where he worked as head of infrastructure and power research since 2017. Prior to that role, he worked as a senior infrastructure analyst at BMI Research, a Fitch Group company, from 2013, totalling almost a decade of experience within infrastructure research. In his new role, Marshall will work closely with the firm's infrastructure private equity and debt teams, as well as the broader...

Northern Europe real assets manager Niam has acquired Brunswick Real Estate’s debt arm, a business which manages €2.5 billion of assets. Niam has invested an undisclosed amount to buy Brunswick Real Estate Capital and will rename it as Niam Credit, led by CEO Pontus Sundin. Brunswick Real Estate Capital, established in 2013, provide alternative credit solutions for the commercial real estate sector in the Nordics. The company has three credit funds with a combined asset under management in excess of...

Legal & General’s affordable homes business has partnered with UK housing association MTVH to deliver over 2,500 shared ownership and affordable rent homes. Legal & General Affordable Homes (LGAH) and MTVH’s shared ownership brand So Resi, have created a 50:50 partnership to deliver the assets over the next seven years. Around 2,000 of the 2,500 homes will be shared ownership with the remainder for affordable rent. The joint venture expects to help many more households in London and the South-East...

An affiliate of Lone Star Value-Add Fund II has inked a deal with the Bervoets family to buy the company Hotel Métropole, whose main asset is the Métropole Hotel in Brussels. Financial details were not disclosed. Lone Star said it would partner with Centaurus Hospitality Management to launch a major renovation of the historic 250-room hotel, with a view to reopen it in the fourth quarter of 2025. 'The acquisition of the Métropole, the capital’s historic hotel, by Lone Star...