German property investor Art-Invest group has announced it is to make its debut in the UK with a €212 mln mixed-use development - and has also opened an office in London.
The firm has won planning permission to build a 10,600 m2 property comprising 88 luxury flats, 15 affordable housing apartments and commercial space in Westminster.
Art-Invest purchased the site for €33 mln from US firm Starwood Capital. The project is scheduled to complete in 2021.
Markus Wiedenmann, founder and CEO of Art-Invest Real Estate, said: ‘With an active pipeline and an experienced and growing team we are excited about the prospects ahead. It’s a great opportunity to be spearheading Art-Invest Real Estate’s UK expansion at a fascinating point in the cycle.
‘Despite the prevailing market conditions, we remain ‘long on the UK but short on the cycle’. Our disciplined multi risk and sector capability, with unique access to diverse risk appetite capital, places us in good stead to grow our business in a targeted and sustainable manner.'
Art-Invest has also opened an office in London. Explaining the move, Wiedenmann said: ‘Our decision to open a London office is consistent with our core principles of having strong local expertise and capability to ensure best-in-class performance origination and execution for our clients.
‘Having already established a unique and trusted investor-developer business in Germany, we see the United Kingdom as a natural expansion market to pursue a targeted early stage opportunistic investment strategy across the risk curve.’
