German asset manager Hansainvest Real Assets has announced the acquisition of a 50% stake in the Global Tower development project in Frankfurt from Frankfurt-based GEG German Estate Group.
As part of the agreement, Hansainvest will acquire the stake in the €340 mln project following completion in the late summer of 2020.
GEG remains fully responsible for the entire project development, construction management, and letting.
The 30-storey building is at an initial stage of construction and is partly pre-let to co-working group Spaces. It will provide 33,000 m2 of rental space in a city central location. The tower, commissioned by Commerzbank, was erected in 1974 and was one of the first skyscrapers in Frankfurt/Main. Famed for its timeless architecture, it has since been listed due to its historical importance.
Ulrich Höller, Chief Executive Officer of GEG, said: 'The decision of this highly professional investor to join the Global Tower development project at this point in time, and to fully acquire the property following completion, is testament to the quality and development potential of the property.'
Nicholas Brinckmann, speaker of the management board of Hansainvest Real Assets, added: 'Joining forces with GEG, we will be developing the existing property into a DGNB-certified green building, based on our conviction that Frankfurt will continue to benefit from favourable development in the future.'
Frankfurt is hot
The deal is the latest of a string of tower acquisitions in Frankfurt in the past few weeks. In mid-September, it emerged that German fund manager Commerz Real is buying Omniturm, Tishman Speyer's major mixed-use development project in Frankfurt’s central business district, on behalf of its hausInvest open-ended real estate fund. The purchase price was kept confidential, but German press reports put the deal price at nearly €700 mln.
In the same week, independent asset manager Schroders announced it is acquiring the Pollux office tower in Frankfurt from Blackstone's Officefirst property arm for a price over €220 mln while German investor and asset manager GEG bought the Garden Tower in the heart of Frankfurt’s banking district from a core-plus fund advised and managed by Tristan Capital Partners. The transaction price amounted to €275 mln.
Another large property up for sale in Frankfurt is the 155-metre high, 45,500-m2 MarienTurm project. Developed by Pecan and Aermont Capital’s €1.3 bn Perella Weinberg Real Estate Fund II, the property is partially pre-let to US investment bank Goldman Sachs but still has a large vacancy rate which, according to well-informed sources, has put off some potential buyers.
Also, PropertyEU's sister publication EuroProperty reported last week that South Korean asset manager IGIS is working on a ‘club deal’ involving the acquisition of the Trianon Tower office building in Frankfurt on behalf of South Korean investors.
Owned by US private equity giant Colony Northstar, the Trianon Tower is one of the most iconic office towers in Germany with a total rentable area of 66,000 m2 over 47 floors. It is expected to fetch a price of between €600 and €650 mln.
