Orco raises EUR 100m at Expo for hospitality fund

Orco Property Group has raised about EUR 100 mln on the first day of the EXPO REAL property fair in Munich for its Central and Eastern European hospitality fund. In an exclusive interview with PropertyEU, Orco's president and ceo Jean-Francois Ott said the funds were raised from a large Dutch pension fund and a US-based merchant bank. Ott did not name the investors.

The EUR 250 mln vehicle, one of the four sub-funds in Orco's Eurdurance family, invests in hotels and apartments in the CEE region. Ott said that Orco is also launching two new Endurance funds, one for healthcare and one core fund. The healthcare fund has four properties and the eur 200 mln core fund has three. 'It is going to be a 12-18 month wait to invest all this. We raise small funds and we are good at investing them quickly and putting the money to work in good properties in Central Europe - that is the way we work,' Ott said.

Separately, Orco announced the acquisition of plot in Prague 9 for its newest office project called Vysocany Gate. The development will consist of seven floors of office space, ranging from 565 m² to 2,245 m2, with a total leasable area of 10,506 m². Construction started in September 2007, and completion is scheduled for April 2009. The total investment is estimated at CZK 450 mln (about EUR 16 mLn). The main contractor is Swedish construction giant Skanska.