Insurer buys tower in Hamburg's largest deal of 2015

Swiss insurance firm Zurich has acquired the newly completed Berliner Tor Center (BTC) in Hamburg from a fund managed by Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI).

Completed at the beginning of September, the 80,000 m2 office complex was acquired by MSREI in 2006 as part of the XXL portfolio.

Financial details of the sale to Zurich were not disclosed. However, the companies said the deal represents Hamburg's largest single property investment transaction so far this year. Press reports put the deal price at around €270 mln.

The vendor was advised by JLL and Bilfinger Real Estate, which has been the BTC's asset manager since 2007.

Located in the Alster Business District in Hamburg's St. Georg quarter, the Jan Störmer-designed complex was built between 2003 and 2005. The three 23-storey, 90-metre-high sections of the building are roughly 88% let to tenants including Siemens (17,000 m2), IBM (9,000 m2), Carat Germany (6,500 m2) as well as Colgate Palmolive and Deutsche Bahn.