Iii-investments acquires central Berlin complex for pension fund

Germany’s HypoVereinsbank investment fund iii-investments has bought an office and retail building in Berlin near to Checkpoint Charlie for a German pension scheme’s real estate special fund.

The property was built in 2000 and is fully leased to several tenants. It offers 16,000 m² of space and an underground parking for 90 vehicles. Financial details were not disclosed but the seller is a Luxembourg fund company.

In a statement, iii-investments said it considers the office market in Berlin to be particularly interesting within Germany. ‘While the development of rents in the 1990s suffered from too many completions, the leasing level turned out to be relatively stable in recent times - even during the financial crisis,’ the fund said. The completion of the new airport is also expected to give the city an extra boost.

‘Against the background of rare new construction activities in the coming years we expect decreasing vacancy rates and rising rents in centrally located areas,’ said Stefan Janotta, head of research at iii-investments, which manages properties valued at about EUR 4.6bn in 13 European countries.