JLL mandated to sell €2.5b of assets in France

Jones Lang LaSalle is managing the sale of over €2.5 bn of commercial properties in the Paris region, investment boss Stephan von Barczy told PropertyEU.

'Investment activity in the Paris region has been very strong in 2014 but it is expected to slightly diminish next year and come in at a more normal level of €12 bn, largely due to the scarcity of product,' Von Barczy said.

Major assets currently up for grabs include the headquarters of Canal + at Quai Point du Jour, on the river bank in Boulogne-Billancourt. AEW, on behalf of two institutional investors, has hired Jones Lang LaSalle to market the asset with a guiding price of €220 mln.

Designed by Christian de Portzamparc and built in 2000, the asset is a campus-style organized building providing a total of 29,000 m2, fully let to Canal+ with a remaining seven-year lease term.

‘There is a strong appetite for real estate and demand remains much higher than supply. Yields are as low as they have historically been and they will continue to be under pressure in the coming months,’ Von Barczy commented.

On the left bank of the Seine, in Paris 13, JLL is also selling a 12,000 m2 office let to the French Ministry of Sport and Youth for a price of €140 mln. The building, known as M7-OP1, is located near the Grande Bibliothèque and is owned by a fund managed by MEAG, the Munich Re Asset Management company.

Meanwhile, asset manager Deutsche Asset & Wealth Management is looking for a buyer for a 75,000 m2 portfolio of four major office buildings in the Paris region. The landlord has hired agent Jones Lang LaSalle to market the assets, which are held by its grundbesitz global open-ended real estate fund and are expected to fetch some €350 mln.

The package comprises Le Prisme, a 14,000 m2 office scheme in Châtillon, south-west of Paris, the 19,000 m2 Oxygène building in Clichy, the 26,600 m2 Energies Building in St.-Quentin-en-Yvelines and the 16,000 m2 Kupka tower in La Défense.