A new German residential real estate investment partnership created by Commerz Real and Wertgrund German has acquired its first asset.

The venture has agreed a forward funded deal to buy a new residential complex construction in Darmstadt from MAG Projektentwicklungs for an undisclosed sum.

The complex, which is located at Haardtring 3 in the Darmstadt West district, encompasses eight apartment houses with a total of 194 two- to four-room apartments on a residential floor area of 15,600sqm, as well as 213 underground car parking spaces.

In April this year, the Commerz Real open-ended real estate fund Hausinvest announced plans to invest about €2bn in residential real estate within the next five years by teaming up with Wertgrund Immobilien.

The fund invests in existing properties and construction projects in German cities and university towns with a minimum volume of €50m and a focus on affordable properties, including publicly-subsidised housing and the strategy could be extended to other European markets in the long term.

To date Hausinvest, which has assets under management of approximately €14.9bn, has primarily invested in commercial real estate, with residential property as an addition in individual properties.

Commerz Real said today that completion of the acquisition and transfer to the Commerz Real open-ended real estate fund HausInvest are scheduled to take place in 2021.

Wertgrund will be in charge of leasing and property management.