The €62bn Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) has taken on the planning and project management for a Cologne hotel.

The German pension fund will refurbish the Dom Hotel, filing for building permits after an architectural competition has been held.

The Versorgungswerk will be in direct negotiations with the Althoff hotel group, which is redeveloping the asset.

One of the 12 sub-retirement providers of the BVK, the supplementary pension fund for Bavarian municipalities, had bought part of the Dom Carrée, of which the hotel and its surroundings are a part, in 2009.

Developer Lammerting was commissioned as general contractor for the refurbishment of the hotel and surrounding area.

The decision to take the project management on itself will help “slim down decision processes” and make procedures more efficient, said Daniel Just, chairman of the BVK board.

BVK has significantly increased its activity in real estate project management and financing in recent years.