Asset management firm BC Partners Real Estate (BCPRE) has made its first investment in Germany.
The BC Partners European Real Estate I Fund (BCPERE I), which is advised by BCPRE, has acquired the property known as Alte Post Kreuzberg at Tempelhofer Ufer 1 in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district.
Financial details were not disclosed.
Built in 1902, the brick building has been completely renovated. It houses around 4,900 m2 of mainly office space and has been granted full approval for an 1,800 m2 extension with office use. The property looks directly onto the Landwehr Canal and boasts excellent public transport links with an underground station with 3 U-Bahn lines nearby.
The multi-tenant building is currently fully leased, mainly to tenants from the IT and business services industries. It also contains a trendy café-cum-bistro.
Outside Germany, BCPERE I has so far successfully deployed capital across its core markets in France, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Focusing on commercial, residential and mixed-use properties in Western Europe, the fund complements BC Partners’ private equity and private credit businesses.
BCPRE partner Laurian Douin said: 'Our investment philosophy is based on the strong conviction that real estate markets across Europe are currently experiencing a paradigm shift.
'Demand from both tenants and investors is being fundamentally reshaped by societal trends such as the disintegrating barrier between work and leisure, new co-working concepts, the move to home working, the regeneration of city centres and the growing importance of sustainability.
'Amid changing requirements from all stakeholder groups, we are seeing the increased need and pressure to provide buildings that match new working and living concepts, especially in Germany’s major office locations. This is where we are leveraging our wealth of experience to reposition existing properties and realise new project developments.
'Against this backdrop, the German real estate market offers attractive investment opportunities with an excellent risk/return profile that complement very well BC Partners Real Estate’s international portfolio.'
CBRE and Reius acted as advisers to BC Partners in the transaction.
