European real estate investment slowed significantly in April compared with March, continuing the downward trend seen since the beginning of the year. PropertyEU Research recorded a volume of EUR 3.5 bn for April, compared with almost EUR 5 bn a month earlier.
European real estate investment slowed significantly in April compared with March, continuing the downward trend seen since the beginning of the year. PropertyEU Research recorded a volume of EUR 3.5 bn for April, compared with almost EUR 5 bn a month earlier.
The April volume is just 50% of the EUR 7 bn of transactions recorded for the same month last year.
The largest deal in April involved US institutional investor TIAA-CREF and German shopping centre firm Mfi who confirmed the acquisition of the 93,000 m2 Gropius Passagen shopping gallery in Berlin for EUR 341 mln. The vendor was Wealthcap.
The second-largest transaction took place in Copenhagen. A consortium, including brewer Carlsberg, acquired the site of its former brewery for EUR 335 mln in what has been billed as the largest real estate development transaction ever in Denmark. It came a few months after another consortium acquired the UN headquarters building in the city for EUR 282 mln.
Carlsberg has a 25% stake in the consortium that is acquiring its former brewery. The other members are property development foundation Realdania (25% stake); pension funds PFA Pension (20%), PenSam (15%) and Topdanmark (15%). The consortium plans to develop a 567,000 m2 mixed-use scheme on the site in the centre of Copenhagen.
Deka Immobilien was the largest investor in European real estate by volume during April. The German fund manager invested EUR 415 mln in two transactions in London. The largest of the two was the acquisition of the Kings Place office scheme for EUR 283 mln.
See more on the deals in April and Q1 in the June edition of PropertyEU Magazine. Click on the link below to subscribe
