PGIM to reposition vacant Frankfurt office with local developer

PGIM Real Estate has bought a vacant office building in Frankfurt with plans to redevelop it with local developer FGI.

The fund manager has bought Junghof Plaza in a joint venture with FGI from an open-ended fund managed by Commerz Real.

The 14,349sqm building, in the banking quarter, was built in 2003, a year after Commerz Real’s HausInvest fund bought it as a construction project for more than €300m, according to reports at the time.

PGIM, the investment management business of US insurer Prudential Financial, plans to redevelop it into modern office space with two inner courtyards, retail space with food and beverage outlets, and hotel use.

Sebastiano Ferrante, head of Germany and Italy at PGIM Real Estate, said: “Junghof Plaza provides an ideal opportunity to create value for our investors through redevelopment and asset repositioning.

“We believe current and future rental values will be supported by strong fundamentals and the asset’s location in Frankfurt’s city centre.”

The deal comes on the same day that it was revealed that Commerz Real is selling the TaunusTurm building in Frankfurt, and soon after PGIM sold another Frankfurt office to Quantum.

Mario Schüttauf, fund manager of HausInvest, said: “We wanted to lower the fund’s Frankfurt share to diversify our portfolio and took advantage of the increasing demand for core property.”