Garbe Institutional Capital has purchased an asset in the Netherlands’ largest life science park for its newly launched science and tech open-ended fund.
The acquisition of the 3,500 m2 property in Leiden Bio Science Park (LBSP) marks the first transaction outside of Germany for the fund, which was launched earlier this year together with capital management company (KVG) Intreal.
Garbe Science and Technology Real Estate Fund 1 (GARBE STREF #1) is structured as a club vehicle for institutional investors and is targeting an investment volume (GAV) of around €400 mln. It pursues a tenant-oriented investment approach, meaning that all assets must be used primarily for research & development, and third-party usability is the most important investment criterion.
The property at Einsteinweg 5 in Leiden offers laboratory, office and industrial space in two linked buildings. It is fully let to four tenants. The property was originally built in 1967 but completely refurbished and extended in 1990 and 2003, respectively.
Thomas Kallenbrunnen, managing director of Garbe Institutional Capital, said: ‘We are delighted to acquire such a property in the heart of the LBSP, which is not only the main cluster for life-sciences in the Netherlands but also offers access to new talent from one of Europe’s most renowned science centres in academia.’
Leiden Bio Science Park is home to over 30,000 students of the University of Leiden as well as 18,000 employees across 150 companies in the biomed sector, including pharmaceutical company Astellas, pharma research company Galapagos and multinational corporation Johnson & Johnson. Leiden is located between Amsterdam and The Hague.
Michiel Dubois, managing director of Garbe Institutional Capital, added: ‘Part of the attractiveness of this property is the redevelopment potential which we will be exploring as part of the investment strategy for GARBE STREF #1.’
Earlier, Garbe acquired an asset in Munich in the first deal for the fund.
