Commerz Real, the recently amalgamated property arm of Germany's Commerzbank, has purchased the Torre Alfa office property in Milan for one of its open-end public property funds, Hausinvest Europa. The company said it invested approximately EUR 83 mln in the ten-storey building that dates from 2003. The vendor of the fully-let building with a floor-space totalling 26,500 m[sup]2[/sup] was closed-end fund initiator Sachsenfonds.

Commerz Real, the recently amalgamated property arm of Germany's Commerzbank, has purchased the Torre Alfa office property in Milan for one of its open-end public property funds, Hausinvest Europa. The company said it invested approximately EUR 83 mln in the ten-storey building that dates from 2003. The vendor of the fully-let building with a floor-space totalling 26,500 m2 was closed-end fund initiator Sachsenfonds.

The property is situated in Quartiere Affari in the San Donato Milanese district, one of Milan's prime office locations. 'The Torre Alfa represents our third office property acquisition in Milan this year. Altogether, we committed approximately EUR 270 mln there in 2007,' said Hans-Joachim Kühl, who is a member of the Commerz Real management board and in charge of real estate acquisitions. 'The market is characterised by stable rents, including future mark-up potential. Milan, being Italy’s most important business metropolis, thus plays an important role within the broader context of expanding and further diversifying our European real estate portfolio.'

Commerz Real, a 100% Commerzbank subsidiary, was created last month by the merger of Commerz Grundbesitz Gruppe and Commerzleasing und Immobilien. With EUR 42 bn in assets under management, the new company describes itself as 'one of the world's largest property asset managers and providers of leasing and investment solutions'. Hausinvest Europa has a fund volume of EUR 9 bn, making it one of the largest open-ended property funds in Europe.