Global real estate manager Hines has inked the sale of a mixed retail and office complex in Italy to the family office of Japanese billionaire Tadashi Yanai, founder and chief executive of Uniqlo operator Fast Retailing.
The sale of the Cordusio 2.0 asset for more than €300m is said to represent a record low yield for Milan prime offices of 3.5%.
The historic building is in Milan’s central Piazza Cordusio, where Uniqlo’s flagship store has been since 2019. The 15,000sqm complex was acquired by Hines on behalf of Germany’s BVK in 2016 and completely renovated.
European landlords are looking to take advantage of recovering values for office space which has seen take-up volume reach 1.9m sqm in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 4% year-on-year, a new research report from Savills reveals.
Office assets earmarked for sale this week include Düsseldorf’s Dreischeibenhaus which is being marketed with a price tag of €300m as well as Hines’ Grainhouse office on London’s Drury Lane which is being marketed through RX London and Savills at a price of £153m (€182m).
Also, Austrian office property developer CA Immo said this week that it is exploring the potential sale of its entire portfolio outside of Germany. The company owns roughly €1.45bn of assets in CEE and Austria, representing respectively 26% and 5% of its €4.9bn portfolio.
“As part of the marketing of one of the CEE assets held for sale, CA Immo has received unsolicited interest to acquire the entire country exposure, which the company has decided to explore”, the company said in a statement, adding that it will “evaluate the sale of its remaining assets in Austria and CEE in part or full should there be investor interest at attractive pricing”.
More deals, new loans as well as newly-launched funds are available below.
| Recently completed deals | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asset | Asset type | Location | Buyer | Vendor | Size | Price (mln) | Key facts |
| 13 UK assets | logistics | UK | Greykite | Silverdock | 371,600m² | £337 (€400) | The acquisitions are part of a new €800m European logistics platform. |
| Cordusio 2.0 | mixed | Milan | Uniqlo | Hines | 15,000m2 | €300+ | The asset for sold for a yield of 3.5%. |
| 50% share of six development projects | mixed | London and Birmingham | The Crown Estate | Lendlease | NA | €172 | The Crown Estate will another A$125m commitment planned over the next five years as its share of the development costs. |
| four assets | retail | Malmö | Svenska Handelsfastigheter | Niam | 48,000m2 | €85 | The portfolio is fully let to 22 tenants, including leading retail chains such as Bauhaus, Jula, Elgiganten, McDonald’s and Lager 157. |
| logistics facility | logistics | Groß-Gerau, close to Frankfurt airport | M&G Real Estate | Taurus Investment Holdings | 32,690m2 | €73 | The asset is fully let to Metro Group and to DeSter Gategroup. |
| via Marco De Marchi 3 | living | Milan | Nassimiha family | Corrado Minucci | NA | €50 | Known as Villa CI, the asset dates back to 1939. |
| Støtvig Hotel | hotel | Larkollen, Norway | Varner family, Harald Moræus-Hanssen, Jarle Norman-Hansen, Sigurd E. Thorvildsen, and Bård Bjølgerud | Stig Fische and his family | 91 rooms | €43 (NOK500) | The transaction includes both the hotel operations and the property itself, including Villa Støtvig. It also comes with a significant land bank and nearly 20,000m2 of development potential. |
| Älta 37:5 | public | Nacka, Sweden | Sefab | Besqab | NA | €18 (SEK200) | The care home is being sold at book value. |
| 50% stake in Svanemølleholm | office | Copenhagen | KanAm Grund | AP Ejendomme | 75,500m2 | NA | The building will serve as the headquarters of Nykredit and AP Pension. |
| Reading International Logistics Park | logistics | Reading, UK | JP Morgan and Graftongate | NA | 8.5acres | NA | The site in Reading has planning consent for the development of a 160,000sqft logistics scheme, comprising four new warehouse units. |
| development site | hotel | Aroeira, Portugal | FSI sgr | Norfin Sgoic | 350 hectares | NA | The two partners will invest €200m to develop the Aroeira Collections by Missoni resort due for completion in 2027. |
| clinic | alternative | Paris | Franklin Real Asset Advisors | NA | 6,381m2 | NA | The psychiatric clinic comprises 110 beds. |
| St Enoch Shopping Centre | retail | Glasgow | Praxis | NA | 800,000sqft | NA | This marks Praxis’s first significant balance sheet investment in the retail sector in eight years. |
| University of Warwick PBSA | living | Warwick, UK | KKR | Gilltown | 544 beds | NA | The asset is scheduled to complete in the summer of 2027, before the start of the academic year. |
| Heathrow’s Leonardo Hotel | hotel | Heathrow, UK | Fattal Hotel Group | Aprirose | 230 bedrooms | NA | The four-star hotel was put up for sale by Knight Frank in October last year with a price tag of £30m. |
| Getafe technology park | mixed | Getafe, Madrid | Alderan | Siemens | 21,450m2 | NA | The asset provides office and logistics space. |
| logistics development | logistics | Herten, Germany | HIH Invest Real Estate, NREP | E-Group | 37,000m2 | NA | The facility is currently under development and is half pre-let. |
| development site | development | Garching, Munich | Euro Real Estate GmbH, THG Wohnen GmbH | NA | 12,000m2 | NA | The plan is to construct a four-storey student hall of residence, with around 12,300m2 of floor space providing some 380 apartments. |
| residential portfolio | living | Berlin, Düsseldorf and Munich | DWS Group | PANDION | 155 units | NA | The portfolio represents a transaction volume in the almost three-digit million-euro range. |
| retail park | retail | Leipzig | REWE Group | CGREAG | NA | NA | The asset is part of the Plagwitzer Höfe quarter development |
| logistics asset | logistics | Lyon | Fidelity | Barings | 27,622m2 | NA | Saint-Laurent-de-Mure was built in 2004 specifically for the tenant, which has a lease until 2029. |
| 75% stake in Proprium | corporate | Europe | L&G | Shareholders | $3.5bn AUM | NA | Proprium Capital Partners is a $3.5bn AUM global real estate private equity firm. As part of the acquisition, L&G will commit up to $300m of capital to support Proprium’s future fund strategies. |
| 18 Rue de Hesse | hotel | Geneva | The Ruby Group | PSP Swiss Property | 124 rooms | NA | The project will transform the listed former bank building into a 124-room Lean Luxury hotel. |
| ABZ Trade Park | logistics | Aberdeen | La Française Real Estate Managers (REM) | ABZ Developments | 39,273sqft | NA | The estate is 100% let to 10 tenants, on leases of between 5 to 10 years. |
| two care home properties | living | Brandenburg, Hamburg | Patrizia fund | Cureus | 263 beds | NA | The assets are leased on a long-term basis to the care specialist compassio Lebensräume & Pflege. |
| two logistics platforms | logistics | Madrid | Irish Life Investment Managers and Aberdeen Investments | Hines | 31,588m2 | NA | The assets were completed in 2023 and 2024. |
| Assets on the market | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Asset | Asset type | Location | Vendor | Size | Price (mln) | Broker | Key facts |
| Dreischeibenhaus | office | Düsseldorf | Black Horse Investments | 35,000m2 | €300 | NA | Black Horse took full control of the asset in October last year. |
| Grainhouse office on Drury Lane | office | London | Hines | 91,000sqft | £153 (€182) | RX London and Savills | Hines bought the asset in 2020. |
| LaTouche House | office | Dublin | Axa IM Real Assets and BCP | 92,000sqft | €25 | CBRE | The price tag represents a 70% discount on the amount paid five years ago by Axa IM Real Assets and BCP to secure the property. |
| Bush Hotel | hotel | Farnham, UK | John Chesterman | 95 bedrooms | £12 (€14) | Knight Frank, Simon Stevens Associates | The historic property dates back to 1618. |
| 44/45 St Stephen’s Green | office | Dublin | Ivor Fitzpatrick & Co | 16,830sqft | €10 | Knight Frank | The landmark headquarter office of the Dublin law firm is being put up for sale following a decision by the company to relocate. |
| Lady Pirrie House | living | Belfast | Watkin Jones | 72,000sqft | NA | Savills | The property is offered as a forward commitment and is held on a 250-year lease at a peppercorn rent. |
| Recently completed loans | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lender(s) | Borrower(s) | Asset(s) | Loan Size (mln) | Key facts |
| Intesa Sanpaolo, BNP Paribas Italia, Natixis Corporate & Investment Banking, Eurobank Private Bank Luxembourg, CiaxaBank, National Bank of Greece and Mediobanca | DeA Capital Real Estate sgr | Italian portfolio | €550 | The financing includes a refinancing facility and a new credit line. |
| Bond investors | Shurgard | Unsecured | €500 | The 10-year bond received an order book of €2.7bn. |
| Unicredit | Arsenale Group | Orient Express – La Minerva hotel in Rome | €150 | The hotel was bought by Arsenale in 2021. |
| Maslow Developments | Torsion Capital | Leeds BTR development | £65 (€77) | The loan funds the development of a scheme with 300 build-to-rent apartments on a vacant brownfield site. |
| Investec, AIB | Signal | Build-to-rent Sutton Park House scheme in Sutton, London | £55 (€65) | The office scheme will be converted to living space. |
| Homes England | Heim Global Investor and West Yorkshire Pension Fund | Water Lane project in Leeds | £50 (€59) | The funding supports the first development in Heim’s UK build-to-core fund. |
| Cynergy Bank | Zenzic Development Finance | Unsecured | £45 (€53) | The three-year funding line will support Zenic’s goal to triple lending volumes in 2025. |
| Funds on the market | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Firm | Fund | Strategy | Details |
| Aukera Real Estate AG | Aukera Real Estate Debt Fund I | Focusing on financings in Germany and the Netherlands. | The fund has a target volume of €500m. |
| BLKB | BLKB (CH) Sustainable Property Fund | Building a high-quality real estate portfolio with a focus on energy-efficient residential properties in Switzerland. | The firm is seeking to raise €170m at the first close of the fund. |
| Real I.S. | Real I.S. Logistix | Acquiring logistics assets in transport hubs and metropolitan regions in countries within the EU currency area. | The planned fund volume is €600m. |
| Paribus | Paribus Wohnimmobilien 1 | Focusing on properties with refurbishment needs. | The German resi fund is targeting a volume of €100m. |
