Hannover Leasing snaps up iconic tower in Düsseldorf

Hannover Leasing has acquired Stadttor Düsseldorf, a 22-storey office tower largely let to the State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia.

Financial details were not disclosed. However, PropertyEU understands that the deal volume was around €100 mln.

Completed in 1998, the complex is one of the landmarks of the Düsseldorf skyline, and provides 29,000 m2 of space, of which 92% is offices. The multi-storey car park next door provides 500 parking spaces.

The main tenant in the building is the State Chancellery of North Rhine-Westphalia, which takes up more than 47% of the floor area and accounts for nearly half of the building’s rent revenues. The remaining lease term of the State Chancellery exceeds 15 years. Other main tenants include law offices and consultancy firms such as The Boston Consulting Group, Kapellmann & Partner, and McDermott Will & Emery.

'We are convinced that this trophy building will remain attractive for investors for a long time to come due to its location, its building quality and tenant structure,' said Andreas Ahlmann, managing director of Hannover Leasing.

The Pullach, Munich-based group said it plans to place the property in the form of an equity investment for private German investors.

The vendor, an undisclosed German fund, was advised by BNP Paribas Real Estate.

Hannover Leasing, owned by lenders Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen and Hessisch-Thüringische Sparkassen-Beteiligungsgesellschaft, has over €15 bn of assets under management.

The transaction is an indication that investors are broadening their views to Germany's regional markets with the country's big seven cities getting increasingly expensive. The Düsseldorf office market, which still offers some upside potential on prices as well as slightly higher prime yields (5.25%), has seen its transaction volumes soar 200% in the first months of the year.

In the first six months alone, the city has seen the same level of investment as for the whole of 2012.

‘Investors are starting to move away from the top seven markets and taking secondary cities with over 200,000 inhabitants into consideration,’ commented Ignaz Trombello, managing partner and head of investment at Colliers Germany.