Immofinanz has sold its Gerling Quartier in Cologne, Germany to investors Quantum Immobilien and Proximus Real Estate for a price exceeding €100 mln.
Quantum is acquiring part of the project comprising six office properties with 21,500 m2 of lettable space in its first phase. In addition, Quantum and Proximus are buying a currently unused commercial property at Hohenzollernring 62 in Cologne with 10,000 m2 of rentable space as well as the remaining apartments in the first construction section of the Gerling Quartier.
The commercial properties involved in the sale had a book value substantially higher than €100 mln at the end of 2016, and the the sale price exceeded this figure, according to Immofinanz. In 2015, PropertyEU reported that the entire project was worth around €400 mln.
'As announced in connection with the sale of the second construction section in the Gerling Quartier during January, we are terminating all our activities on this historical quarter development project and will now concentrate our business activities in Germany on Düsseldorf, where we are currently completing the future corporate headquarters for trivago and Uniper,' commented Immofinanz CEO Oliver Schumy.
'This sale underscores our strategic reorientation on the office and retail sectors with our myhive, Stop Shop and Vivo! brands. They stand for a high degree of standardisation and, in turn, also for the high portfolio efficiency of our properties. The Gerling Quartier, which is subject to extensive historical preservation regulations, no longer fits with this concept.'
The closing is expected to take place by year-end 2017, at which time the public areas in the Quartier are expected to have been completed.
