Northern European-focused Cording Real Estate Group and institutional investment manager Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate have acquired an office asset in Rotterdam for €20.2 mln from Amsterdam developer Cradle of Development.
The office property, De Nieuwe Boompjes, was acquired in an off-market transaction. The 8,930 m2 property represents the first investment for Cording's and Warburg-HIH's joint Benelux Commercial Real Estate Fund.
'This first acquisition shows that, even in markets where supply is short, with the benefit of our local team we can identify and acquire interesting investment properties,' commented René de Heus, director of investment for Benelux at Cording.
The building, which dates from 1950, was fully refurbished and modernised in 2016. It is almost fully let to small-scale tenants, the largest of which are Parthenon-EY, Vereniging Nederlandse Assurantie Beurs, Kaan Architekten, and Unibarge.
'The listed character of the building with many details dating back to the original construction year and the special fit-out of both common and tenant space makes this asset a niche product for tenants, which are seeking a working environment beyond the usual standards and configurations. The small-scale leases provide granularly stable rental incomes,' added de Heus.
The Benelux Commercial Real Estate Fund, launched in December 2016, is an open-ended special real estate fund which was issued on an individual instruction for Helaba Invest and SV SparkassenVersicherung. It invests in office and retail property in the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The fund has a gross target volume of €300 mln, including around €200 mln of equity, with a planned investment period is two years. Cording carries out the acquisition and asset management of each of the fund properties, while Warburg-HIH Invest, as the capital management company, is responsible for fund management.
'This high-quality property in a central location in Rotterdam demonstrates that we have good access to the market, even in highly sought-after locations. This is fundamental to our forthcoming investments in the Netherlands and in the target regions of Belgium and Luxembourg,' said Andreas Schütz, senior fund manager at Warburg-HIH Invest.
Plot Real Estate provided commercial consultancy services for the purchaser. DLA Piper advised on legal issues, Stevens van Dijck on technical matters and KPMG on tax issues.
