German fund manager Commerz Real and global investor Hines have closed the deal for Hypovereinsbank's Am Tucherpark in Munich, a mixed-use quarter comprising 10 buildings across 148,000 m2.
Financial details were not disclosed but sources suggest a deal volume in excess of €1 bn.
Commerz Real has acquired the asset for its hausInvest open-ended real estate fund. 'Just under 15 hectares with major development potential, and this in downtown Munich – a unique opportunity for our investors,' commented Andreas Muschter, Commerz Real's CEO.
At present the mixed-use park, close to the English Garden in Schwabing, is known as the HVB Campus and has a gross floor area of some 148,000 m2. These are distributed across seven office buildings with around 99,000 m2, a 5-star Hilton Hotel with 484 rooms on 36,000 m2, a data centre covering 10,800 m2, as well as a sports complex with some 2,300 m2.
The properties were erected in the 1960s and 1980s, with most of the buildings being refurbished since 2018. The campus includes 1,500 car parking spaces.
Hypovereinsbank remains the tenant in one of the office buildings as well as the sports complex, with a plan to stay on for around five years, according to sources.
Commerz Real and Hines have created a joint venture to redevelop the campus and make it available to a wider public. The JV is considering conversions and modernisations, as well as further densification, while complying with the preservation orders for listed buildings within the complex.
'Although our plans are still in their infancy, it is our objective to also create subsidised, affordable housing and thus contribute to easing the pressure on the housing market in Munich,' said Alexander Möll, senior managing director at Hines Germany.
The duo beat off competition from the likes of Allianz and Art-Invest, both of whom had been tipped to secure the complex.
Hines and Commerz Real were assisted in the transaction by P+P Pöllath + Partners (legal matters), PWC (taxes), REC Real Estate Consultancy Partners (technology) and HK Law. UniCredit was advised on the sale by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
UniCredit CEO Jean Pierre Mustier has been pursuing a strategy to sell the bank's non-core properties in recent months, particularly in Germany, to strengthen UniCredit's capital ratios.
