UK real estate investment manager Newcore Capital achieved a £100m first close this week for its £375m (€442m) core-plus fund, the Newcore Social Infrastructure Income Fund (NSIIF).
The fund has secured three institutions as cornerstone investors: The Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund, a local government pension scheme and an insurance company client of Capricorn Private Investments, an outsourced investment office.
NSIIF focuses on UK real assets with essential social infrastructure uses, such as education, childcare, clinical healthcare, transport, and waste management. It targets returns of 9%-11% per annum internal rate of return, with a 4-5% annual dividend.
“This milestone has been achieved against the backdrop of a particularly difficult capital-raising market and demonstrates that a clear three-dimensional focus on sustainability – financial, environmental, and social – can deliver positive results for fund managers, by securing commitments from high quality investors with similar aspirations for their capital,” commented Newcore Capital CEO Hugo Llewelyn.
In other two major fundraisings this week, PGIM Real Estate raised $2bn (€1.9bn) for its first-ever global data centre fund while Dutch managed Amvest received a €250m capital commitment for its living and care property fund from Gasunie, Woningcorporaties and a third unnamed Dutch pension fund.
Hotels were one of the most active segments this week, with a number of new assets coming up for sale and a major refinancing being announced. Hyatt Hotels & Resorts is said to have put a €120m hotel portfolio in Tenerife back on the market just shortly after completing the acquisition while key European cities like London, Milan and Madrid reported new sale processes of individual assets for prices between €40 and €50m. In Greece, a new €800m hotel portfolio is reported to have gone on sale in what is potentially the largest deal in the country this year.
In the refinancing section, lender Aareal provided a €567m financing package to refinance a portfolio of seven hotels. The portfolio is owned by Archer Hotel Capital, the joint investment vehicle of Singapore’s GIC and APG, a subsidiary of Dutch pension fund ABP.
“European hotel investment is likely to ramp up in 2025, with significant growth in the proportion of investors planning to deploy at least as much capital, if not more, in the year to come,” said Jon Hubbard, head of hospitality EMEA at Cushman & Wakefield, which just released the fourth edition of its Hotel Investor Compass survey.
“The improving sentiment is partly a result of the more favourable interest rate environment, with the European Central Bank slashing rates four times in 2024, and further cuts expected this year, but investors also expect capital appreciation across all regions in 2025, driven by strong recent hotel performances and robust demand.”
Recently completed deals | |||||||
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Asset | Asset type | Location | Buyer | Vendor | Size | Price (mln) | Key facts |
Lakeside Retail Park | retail | Essex, UK | GTAM Apex Lakeside Bidco | Landsec | 385,000 ft2 | £114 (€136) | The deal reflects a net initial yield of 6%. |
63-65 Piccadilly | office | London | Asok Kumar Hiranandani’s Royal Group of Companies | private European investor | NA | £60 (€72) | The buyer plans to convert the building into a luxury boutique hotel. |
231-apartment residential development | living | Uppsala, Sweden | Nrep | Bonava | 231 apartments | €45 (SEK485) | The deal was executed via Nrep’s NSF V Fund. |
Jordbromalm 4:4 & 6:90 | logistics | Haninge, Sweden | SLP | Kilenkrysset | 24,000 m2 | SEK 465 (€43) | The two properties are anchored by grocery retailers City Gross and Lidl. |
42 Southwark Bridge Road | living | London | HUB and Bridges | NA | 100,000 ft2 | £36 (€43) | The partners plan to repurpose the existing 100,00sqft office block into a living-led scheme. |
Långskeppet 1 & 4 | retail | Trollhättan, Sweden | Arwidsro | Regio | 20,861 m2 | €41 (SEK440) | The properties have an average lease term of over four years and an economic occupancy rate of 100%. |
Taunusstraße 41 | office | Munich | Montano Real Estate, Beyond RealEstate Holding | HIH Invest Real Estate | 19,200 m2 | €40 | HIH signed a new lease with occupier BMW in June last year. |
Idunsvej 2 | logistics | Copenhagen | Catena | Borregaard Invest ApS | 26,085 m2 | €39 (DKK289) | The logistics facility is now being built for completion in Q1 2026. |
300 residential units | living | Aschaffenburg, Germany | Primus Valor | NA | 20,000 m2 | €36 | The assets were bought for two funds in the ImmoChance Deutschland fund series. |
9 sites | mixed | France | Icade | Casino | NA | €32 | The area has the potential to accommodate around 3,050 new housing units and 29,000 m2 of renovated retail space. |
two logistics assets | logistics | Tuscany, Italy | Patrizia | NA | NA | €30.6 | The portfolio includes a last-mile asset leased to Ups in Prato, and a cross-docking facility in Lucca. |
Portfolio of 2 assets | public | Örnsberg, Sweden | OBOS | Genova | 8,158 m2 | €30 (SEK323) | The properties are currently used for school activities and will undergo a transformation process in close collaboration with the City of Stockholm. |
St Marks Court | living | London | Residence One | Henigman & CPI Property Group | 2,927 m2 | £19.5 (€23) | The 19th-century mansion block will be converted into 29 new private residential apartments. |
Lyyra block | hotel | Helsinki | Niam | Ylva | 7,200 m2 | NA | The hotel building houses Citybox’s first hotel in Finland, featuring 178 rooms. |
The Place student residence | living | Suresnes, France | Irish Life Investment Managers | Cardinal Promotion | 144 units | NA | The acquisition is the sixth investment made for ILIM’s pan-European multi-sector property strategy. |
residential portfolio | living | Germany | Net Zero Properties | ZBI | 3,300 apartments | NA | Net Zero Properties’ goal is to energetically renovate its existing housing stock and expand to over 40,000 apartments by the end of 2026. |
Delta 3 logistics development | logistics | Lille | Tristan Fund and Edmond de Rothschild REIM | Delta 3 | 136,000 m2 | NA | Tristan bought the XXL project for Episo 6. |
newly constructed logistics property | logistics | Bockenem, Germany | Patrizia | Bauwo | 27,500 m2 | NA | The asset is occupied by Coca Cola with a 10-year term. |
Streitfeld Lofts | office | Munich | KGAL | Blackrock | 8,400 m2 | NA | The complex consists of a renovated building built in 1967 and an extension erected in 2020. |
business park | mixed | Düsseldorf | Beos | Meag | 26,200 m2 | NA | The asset comprises 17,000 m2 of office space and 9,200 m2 of hall space. |
412-room InterCity Hotel | hotel | Berlin | Invesco Real Estate | CA Immo | 23,400 m2 | NA | The deal was made on behalf of a German separate account client. |
28 hotels | hotel | Sweden, Denmark and Norway | CapMan Hotels II | Midstar Fastigheter AB | 4,709 rooms | NA | The deal is the largest hotel transaction ever signed in the Nordic region. |
38 homes | living | Milton Keynes, UK | Schroders Capital | NA | 38 homes | NA | The homes will be contracted to YMCA Milton Keynes, a local charity and registered provider of social housing. |
Gutenbergstrasse 2-6 | logistics | Cologne | Segro | Delta Development | 12,000 m2 | NA | The forward funding transaction will be completed in early 2026. |
development site | development | Amsterdam | Valor and QuadReal | Intospace | 33,000 m2 | NA | The partners intend to develop a state-of-the-art distribution centre with a Gross Development Value of €60m. |
development site | logistics | Pomezia, Italy | Kryalos, Logicor | Mazer fund | 54,000 m2 | NA | The partners plan to develop a 20,000 m2 logistics facility on the site. |
Nexum retail park | retail | Madrid | Irish Life IM, Aberdeen | Equilis | 23,000 m2 | NA | The retail park has around 2 million visitors a year. |
Shopping Center Skanssi | retail | Turku, Finland | Swiss Life Asset Managers and Trevian | CBRE Global Investors | 37,000 m2 | NA | The asset first opened in 2009. |
Power Park Olsztyn | retail | Olsztyn, Poland | BIG Poland | EPP | 33,000 m2 | NA |
The centre boasts a strong tenant mix, including Auchan, Black Red White, Action, Maxi Zoo, OBI, JYSK, Media Markt and MAX Premium Burgers. |
Assets on the market | |||||||
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Asset | Asset type | Location | Vendor | Size | Price (mln) | Broker | Key facts |
three-asset portfolio | hotel | Tenerife | Hyatt Hotels & Resorts | 1,200 rooms | €120 | NA | The portfolio includes the Alua Atlántico Golf Resort, Alua Tenerife, and Alua Soul Orotava Valley. |
The Hanningtons Estate | mixed | Brighton, UK | Redevco | 152,161 ft2 | £57 (€68) | NA | The deal reflects a net initial yield of 7.49%. |
Partnership House, on Carlisle Place | office | London | John Lewis | 37,460 ft2 | £46 (€54) | Koopmans | The asset brings in a passing rent of nearly £2.5m, with the sale reflecting a 5% net initial yield. |
easyHotel Madrid | hotel | Madrid | Extendam | 230 rooms | €50+ | NA | The asset was bought in June 2020. |
Leicester Sq hotel | hotel | London | Z Hotels | 95 bedrooms | £42 (€50) | Avison Young UK and JLL | Structured as a sale-and-leaseback, the operation comes with a guaranteed 35-year leaseback to Z Hotels. |
Voco hotel | hotel | Milan | Alivest S.p.A | 280 rooms | €40 | NA | The hotel opened its doors in 2021. |
One East Parade | office | Leeds | Schroders Capital | 53,834 ft2 | £17 (€20) | CBRE | A deal would reflect a net initial yield of 8.8%. |
Clifton Heights | office | Bristol | NA | 26,830 ft2 | £16 (€19) | Hartnell Taylor Cook, Griffiths Eccles | The building could be transformed into 119 apartments, 261 student studios or a 238-bed hotel. |
Edward Square retail complex | retail | Galway, Ireland | Signature Capital | 24,984 ft2 | €8 | TWM and JLL | The building is occupied by three tenants, namely Starbucks, Intersport Elvery’s and New Look. |
Mariankatu 9 and Mariankatu 11 | office | Helsinki | Senaatti-kiinteistöt | 8,600 m2 | NA | NA |
Indicative bids for the properties are due by June 16, 2025. |
Recently completed loans | ||||
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Lender(s) | Borrower(s) | Asset(s) | Loan Size (mln) | Key facts |
ABN AMRO, BNP Paribas, CA-CIB, HSBC and ING | CBRE Investment Management | Unsecured | €1000 | The loans are a €250m RCF to bridge equity and for general working capital purposes; a €300m term loan facility to bridge medium-term debt to fund new acquisitions and developments and a third €450m short-term bridge facility. |
Aareal Bank | Archer Hotel Capital | portfolio of seven hotels in four countries | €567 | Archer Hotel Capital is the joint investment vehicle of Singapore’s GIC and APG, a subsidiary of Dutch pension fund ABP. |
Bond investors | Citycon | Unsecured | €450 | The 6.25-year senior unsecured fixed rate EUR-denominated Bond pays a fixed coupon of 5.375%. |
Pbb | EQT Real Estate | Polish logistics portfolio | €120 | The portfolio comprises four properties providing over 220,000 m2. |
Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander | Bruntwood SciTech | three projects in Manchester | £100 (€120) | The loan has a 3-year term. |
Redevco | Original Works | 10 Salisbury Square in London | £47.5 (€56.8) | The facility will support the acquisition and refurbishment of a 56,000 sqft office-led scheme. |
Eldridge Real Estate Credit | Greystar | development site in Madrid | €56 | The construction loan will fund the development of an apartment project, located in Boadilla del Monte. |
Aviva Investors | Cardiff and Vale College | two new campus developments for Cardiff & Vale College | NA | The Campus is expected to provide 6,000 m2 of space for up to 900 students each yea whil the 13,000 m2 Advanced Technology Centre (ATC) is expected to accommodate 2,000 students when completed. |
Funds on the market | |||
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Firm | Fund | Strategy | Details |
Newcore | Newcore Social Infrastructure Income Fund | Delivering sustainable long-term income and capital returns from a functional portfolio of UK real assets enabling essential social infrastructure uses, such as education, childcare, clinical healthcare, transport, and waste management. | The company has achieved a £100m first close for its £375m core-plus fund. |
The Fund has secured three institutions as cornerstone investors: The Parliamentary Contributory Pension Fund, a Local Government Pension Scheme and an insurance company client of Capricorn Private Investments. | |||
PGIM Real Estate | Global Data Center Fund | Investing in data centres across the world. | The firm has raised $2bn (€1.9bn) for its first-ever global data centre fund. |
Amvest | Living & Care fund | Investing in health care real estate | The firm has received a €250m capital commitment for its living and care property fund from Gasunie, Woningcorporaties and a third unnamed Dutch pension fund. |