The Catella European Residential III Fund (CER III) has acquired a 177-unit fully rented student housing development in Leipzig, in the eastern German state of Saxony, for around €23 mln from family office, Drengenberg.
The investor has taken CER III to €800 mln of AUM, managed by Berlin-based Catella Residential Investment Management (CRIM).
The latest assets is a 3,520 m2 site development completed in Q3 2023 and has, beside the residential units, a food discounter supermarket on the ground floor, as well as 65 indoor and outdoor parking spaces. The asset is located in a lively diverse neighbourhood populated by students, artists and sub-cultures with numerous cafes, bars, restaurants, and small stores and is close to one of Leipzig’s universities.
Michael Keune, MD at CRIM, said: 'The latest investment in Leipzig by our CER III fund fully meets the environmental standards we demand from the assets in the portfolio for our investors. The acquisition also addresses another critical societal issue, the severe shortage of affordable and modern quality accommodation for students in major German and European cities when young people are struggling to take the first steps in their independent adult lives.'
Leipzig has been one of the fastest-growing cities in Germany over the past 10 years and attracts many national and international companies to locate in the urban area and in the surrounding state of Saxony. It is also one of the most popular German university cities with around 42,000 students.
