HausInvest Europa gets first logistics property

Commerz Real has acquired the Comet logistics development in Harlow near London for its HausInvest Europa open-ended property fund. The total investment volume comes to EUR 50mln. The 35,500-m² asset was sold by Kenmore Capital.

This is the first logistics centre contributed to the HausInvest Europa fund. 'So far, we limited pure logistics investments to our Eurologistik 1 institutional fund, which owns real estate assets worth approximately EUR 300mln. With the acquisition of Comet, we are expanding our activities in this market segment to include our HausInvest Europa public fund,' said Hans-Joachim Kühl, member of the board at Commerz Real and responsible for real estate acquisitions.

'In face of the ongoing globalisation and the anticipated increase in haulage volumes worldwide, the market for logistics properties is bound to keep growing. Before this background, we intend to further expand the share of HausInvest Europa in the business. At the same time, the Comet marks the first logistics property we bought in England. In this sense, the property enhances the fund’s spread in regard to both diversification by type of usage and diversification by country.'

Commerz Real made its first purchase since 2005 in the London conurbation recently because the sharp price correction has made the market more attractive.

The German company said the entire floor space of the logistics property is let to Comet Group for a fixed term of 20 years. Comet will use the steel-built warehouse as its national distribution centre.

Commerz Real AG, a fully-owned Commerzbank subsidiary, was created by the merger of Commerz Grundbesitz Gruppe and CommerzLeasing und Immobilien. With EUR 44bn in assets under management, the new company is one of the world's largest real estate asset managers and providers of leasing and investment solutions.