Germany’s largest pension fund Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) is teaming up with developer GBI to invest €500m in hotels in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
Universal-Investment has structured a fund for the €77bn institutional investor to hold assets over the long term.
BVK has already made its first investment, acquiring the Lindner Hotel Am Michel in Hamburg.
“This four-star hotel in a prime city location in one of the most dynamic hotel markets in Germany is a fitting start for the fund,” said Simon Behr, director of fund management and transaction at GBI.
Christoph Geirhos, head of real estate purchase and sale at BVK, said: “Hotel properties are highly attractive for long-term-oriented investors.
“The long-term operator agreements in particular provide a high degree of security and predictability. The Lindner Hotel in Hamburg, for example, ideally meets these criteria.”
The hotel in Neanderstrasse, which has 259 rooms and seven conference rooms, was opened in 2008 and has been sold by Lloyd Fonds after 10 years of ownership.
BVK will seek to acquire comparable two-star and four-star hotels in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in major cities like Hamburg, as well secondary and tertiary cities.
As well as traditional hotels, the fund will also look at the emerging long-stay sector.
“We are also interested in properties that are still in project development status,” said Behr.
Behr said that GBI, as Germany’s largest developer, “knows precisely which operators in Germany and abroad are interested in certain locations”, and can “find the optimal solution together with development partners”.
