ECE fund purchases shopping centre in Berlin

The ECE European Prime Shopping Centre Fund has acquired the Hallen am Borsigturm shopping centre in Berlin-Tegel.

The seller of the property is Vernal Asset 2BV. The financial details were not disclosed.

The centre was opened in 1999 and comprises 22,000 m2 of retail space, 15,000 m2 of offices, some 7,500 m2 for a hotel and a 5,000 cinema area. Shopping centre developer-manager ECE has been operating and leasing out the centre since end-2011.

Hallen am Borsigturm comprises 115 specialist shops, cafés, restaurants and service providers. Among its tenants are Media Markt, Rewe, H&M, Strauss Innovation, Esprit, TK Maxx, and Intersport Voswinkel. A total of 1,600 parking spaces are available in a parking garage.

Volker Kraft, managing partner of ECE Real Estate Partners said: 'The acquisition of the Hallen am Borsigturm is a major success for the fund. We know the property very well, as it has been managed by ECE. There still is a considerable value creation potential with restructuring and modernisation measures which will optimize the center in terms of the floor layout as well as the branch and tenant mix.'

The ECE European Prime Shopping Centre Fund manages €775 mln from global leading institutional investors. The fund concentrates on the acquisition of existing shopping centres with value-add potential across continental Europe.