Invesco Real Estate and Henley Investment Management have joined forces to acquire a prime office building in the heart of Amsterdam.
The 5,270 m2 asset, located at Rembrandtplein in the historic city centre, was acquired on behalf of Invesco’s European value-add strategy and funds managed by Henley. It was sold by funds managed by Abrdn.
Financial details were not disclosed, but information filed with the Dutch land registry reveals a purchase price of €30 mln.
The building, marketed as Vector House, is currently fully let to the single tenant Booking.com, one of the largest online travel agencies, occupying all of the office space of the seven-storey building. In addition to flexible floorplates of up to 1,000 m2, the building also boasts a private courtyard garden, several outdoor terraces and ample natural daylight thanks to its prime corner location.
Invesco and Henley plan to reposition the building, upgrading it to meet modern workplace design requirements and enhanced sustainability credentials of the EPC A rated building.
Justin Meissel, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Director Europe, Henley, said: ‘This building represents a perfect fit for our impact-led, value-add investing strategy. Vector House is already a high-quality building in a prime location, within a growing, dynamic gateway city. Compared to post-GFC, Amsterdam is benefitting from favourable supply-demand dynamics, with supply further constrained by limited development of large-scale grade A space in the city centre, and Dutch energy-efficiency requirements.’
He added: ‘Following our planned refurbishment program, we believe Vector House will be a very attractive offering to the wide array of corporate occupiers desiring to be in Amsterdam’s city centre. We maintain a strong conviction for ‘the right offices in the right locations’, where accessibility and the availability of excellent and varied amenities is a differentiator, as companies look for more out of their office buildings as employees return to the office and they look to attract and retain talent.’
Rutger Hellingwerf – Transactions Manager from Abrdn commented: ‘We have owned Vector House for a number of years and during that time have enjoyed working with Booking.com. With Booking’s new HQ building opening in 2023, this offered an optimum exit point for our fund and having agreed terms with Henley and Invesco, our respective teams worked very collaboratively in executing the transaction in the agreed timescales.’
Last month, German investment manager Deka Immobilien acquired the future corporate headquarters of Booking Holdings for €566.3 mln. The mixed-use campus, which has achieved a BREEAM Excellent design certificate, was delivered in November after a construction period of several years. Booking.com will move operations there from mid-2023.
