A fund advised by real estate investment manager Meyer Bergman has sold the Karstadt department store in Berlin to Austrian group Signa for an undisclosed price.
Meyer Bergman European Retail Partners II (MBERP II) acquired the 55,500 m2 building, one of Germany’s largest city centre department stores, in late 2013. The property includes a 680-vehicle car park and a block of apartments and offices. Karstadt is the sole tenant of the property, which it occupies on a long lease.
Meyer Bergman’s CEO Markus Meijer said the firm was disposing of the building because it had hit its business targets for the property sooner than expected, ‘enabling us to crystallise excellent returns for our investors’.
Karstadt opened its department store on Berlin’s Hermannplatz in 1929, although the building was almost completely destroyed during World War II. Constructed on the same site, the current department store opened in 1951. It was enlarged in 2000, when the façade was also refurbished. The property incorporates two entrances to the subway station.
The sale of Karstadt Hermannplatz is the fifth disposal to date by MBERP II, which raised a total of €750 mln of equity at the final close in the third quarter of 2014.
Meyer Bergman was advised on the sale by JLL, Simmons & Simmons and PwC.
