Commerz Real Capital Management Company has purchased a residential complex currently under construction in Vienna with 378 serviced apartments for its Commerz Real Institutional Smart Living Europe Fund.
Financial details were not disclosed.
The seller is a joint venture between the project developer S+B Gruppe and the micro-living specialist i Live Group. The latter will also assume responsibility for the management under the new brand 'Rioca by i Live' following its expected completion in the third quarter of 2021.
The eleven-storey complex, targeting young professionals, students and commuters, is situated at Viehmarktgasse 4 in Vienna’s 3rd municipal district, Landstrasse, in the Sankt Marx quarter of the city centre. In the immediate vicinity is, among others, Campus Vienna Biocenter with academic and industrial research facilities.
The project's leasable area of nearly 10,300 m2 encompasses not only the fully furnished apartments, including a pantry kitchen equipped with technical devices, but also communal areas such as lounges, a quiet study area, a rooftop terrace and a fitness room, as well as two underground car parking decks with 150 car parking spaces, 17 motorcycle stands and 334 bicycle stands.
Heiko Szczodrowski, head of asset structuring portfolio management at Commerz Real and CEO of Commerz Real KVG said: 'As one of the most beautiful European cities and a growing metropolis Vienna not only attracts students from all over the world, it also has a large number of commuters.
'Thus, on the basis of the ongoing population growth, the city authorities say they assume that by 2036 the number of residents will again exceed two million – for the first time since 1910. At the same time newcomers to the city are having extreme difficulty finding somewhere to live at short notice. We are helping to plug this gap while also benefitting our investors.'
The operating concept of i Live includes not just the property management and the letting of the apartments, but also the fostering of a community spirit by offering events and leisure-time activities. A separate app allows the residents to communicate with one another and facilitates the use of mobility offerings, as well as the contract and property management.
The open-ended special alternative investment fund Commerz Real Institutional Smart Living Fund is targeting student accommodation and micro-apartment complexes in European metropolises and university cities on behalf of professional and semi-professional investors.
