Germany's BVK, NAEV team up for Warsaw property deal

German pension funds Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) and Nordrheinische Ärzteversorgung (NAEV) have teamed up in a joint venture to purchase a newly built mixed-used property in Warsaw.

Invesco Real Estate purchased the 56,800sqm Plac Unii building for €226m on behalf of the institutions, both of which are separate account clients.

BVK confirmed that it was the first time the pension fund had entered into a joint venture with NAEV and that the cooperation was currently limited to the Warsaw one deal.

But a spokesman said “further joint ventures are not excluded”.

He said that the joint venture was entered into on this occasion “because of the size of the BVK’s investment in this submarket and for this object” in order to allow for “risk diversification”.

The property will become part of the portfolios of the two Versorgungswerke via the investment platforms set up by BNP Paribas REIM for the €60bn BVK and Universal-Investment for the €11bn NAEV, respectively.

The class-A property, finished at the end of 2013, consists of three parts, with up to 21 storeys and 41,300sqm of office space, as well as 15,500sqm of retail space in total.

The main office tenant is ING, and the retail space is let to a mix of clothing stores, restaurants, cafés, a fitness studio and a supermarket.

Last summer, BNP Paribas REIM was part of a consortium alongside BVK to finance the development of the Mall of Berlin.

NAEV restructured its real estate portfolio last year under Jan Schlüter, who succeeded Hermann Aukamp in May.