Union Investment has acquired the headquarters of Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft and plans to reposition the asset after the German shipping company moves out later this year.

Union Investment has paid an undisclosed sum to buy the 18,611sqm building at Willy-Brandt-Straße 59-65 from the Oetker Group.

The asset is being acquired for the UniInstitutional German Prime Select real estate fund, the manager said.

The office ensemble was built in 1964. It comprises four sections: a 16-storey tower, a two-storey connecting building, a six-storey block and a seven-storey building. In 2016, the three existing parts of the complex were upgraded in terms of technology and energy efficiency, and the seven-storey office building was added.

Wolfgang Kessler, a member of the management team at Union Investment Institutional Property, said: “As a Hamburg-based real estate investment manager, we are particularly looking forward to repositioning this iconic building and making it attractive to new users.

“The Emporio tower in Hamburg’s Neustadt district involved completely revitalising a similarly striking and historic building, then fully re-letting it as a multi-tenant property after Unilever moved out. With its unique city centre location, good transport links and flexible floor plans, the Hamburg Süd building definitely has the potential to be another success story in our Hamburg home market.”

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