Catella European Residential (CER), the German public open-ended real estate fund which has total assets under management of around €1.4 bn, has acquired 350 apartments within five properties covering almost 14,200 m2 of gross lettable area (GLA) in the four Finnish cities of Espoo, Kerava, Tampere and Turku, in the country’s ‘Golden Residential Triangle’.
The seller is S-Bank Fund Management, part of Finland’s S-Bank. The price of the transaction was not revealed.
Berlin-based Catella Residential Investment Management GmbH (CRIM) is the manager of the CER Fund with Catella Real Estate AG providing the German KVG regulatory platform.
Michael Keune, MD at CRIM, said: 'The stabilized five assets are located in the Helsinki, Tampere and Turku regions - the "Golden Triangle" of Finland's main residential markets with fast-growing economic and educational centres. Significant energy upgrades are planned for all properties, such as photovoltaic systems and/or geothermal heating.'
The five properties were completed between 2017 and 2021 and are in good technical condition with strong environmental profiles as evidenced by B energy efficiency ratings of all the assets.
The apartments measure between 23 m2 and 75 m2. All the properties have good connections to public transport.
Benjamin Rüther, head of fund management CRIM, explained: 'Over the past decade the average household size in Finland has shrunk and the share of single-person households in the population is the highest in Europe at about 47% compared with an average of around 34% in the EU as a whole. Smaller apartments, such as the one the Catella European Fund has just acquired, are preferred by singles and couples who make up over three-quarters of Finland’s population.'
