Asset and investment manager MPC Capital has acquired a new building complex in Berlin-Pankow for its Article 8 fund from Covivio Immobilien.
The property comprises two multi-family houses with a total of around 7,000 m2 of living space spread over 113 residential units. In addition, the property, completed and fully rented in mid-2022, includes 39 underground parking spaces and one commercial unit.
Christoph J. Thumm, managing director real estate at MPC Capital, said: 'The property in Berlin is the perfect new addition to our ESG fund portfolio - thanks to its high energy efficiency and central yet green location. The property is already completed and fully rented, eliminating any construction and completion risks and immediately generating ongoing income.
'We thank our institutional partners for their trust in our team during the acquisition and are thrilled to successfully implement our proven investment strategy, even in volatile market phases. We aim to further expand our portfolio and are actively seeking attractive investment opportunities.'
The property is located in the Pankow district, within walking distance of the popular Prenzlauer Berg district. The location, vis-à-vis a large green area, offers a diverse mix of residential, retail, commercial, and health properties that contribute to excellent local supply. Excellent public transport connections are also guaranteed.
The ESG residential real estate fund was launched at the end of 2020 in collaboration with Universal Investment as an open-end special AIF with fixed investment conditions and was among the first Article 8 funds on the market for residential real estate.
The selection of locations and properties is based on the MPC scoring model, taking into account socio-economic framework data, energy standards, and location qualities associated with mobility concepts. The focus is particularly on the energy efficiency of buildings and technical systems. Due to the strict ecological requirements, the fund mainly focuses on new buildings.
In terms of location, around 45 investment sites in Germany are suitable. One focus is on so-called swarm cities, which benefit from an above-average influx of young and well-educated employees. With the recent acquisition, the fund's portfolio now includes six properties located in the metropolitan regions of Frankfurt, Hamburg, Berlin, and Münster.
Said Thumm: 'The demand for additional housing is immense and faces a currently challenging market environment. At the same time, the requirements for building efficiency and ecology continue to increase. This inevitably leads to a shortage of supply and demand surplus, which will have a positive impact on the achievable returns.
'With our team, our network, our deep market penetration, and our investment strategy focused on carefully selected residential real estate, we are optimally positioned to deliver interesting investment ideas to our investors under the changed framework conditions and to further expand our portfolio.'
The acquisition was carried out with legal and tax advice from Taylor Wessing and technical advice from BMP Baumanagement. The transaction was brokered and accompanied by HPBA, Berlin.
