Rockspring Property Investment Managers has cast a €53 mln vote of confidence in the ongoing regeneration of a district of Lisbon by acquiring two Grade A office building projects, PropertyEU has learned.
The European investment manager agreed the off-market forward-purchases on behalf of TransEuropean Property Limited Partnership VI. This brings the total amount invested on behalf of the value-add fund to €481 mln across six transactions.
The office projects are located in Santos Design District, which Rockspring describes as 'a vibrant and transforming' waterside district of the Portuguese capital. The buildings will be managed by Rockspring Iberia, the Madrid-based asset management team.
'Our focus here was on the future trajectory of the occupier market in this area of Lisbon and, to that end, we were excited about the prospects of owning two stand-out buildings in arguably one of the most popular and thriving parts of the city, where rents should be capable of material appreciation over the near term,' said Paul Hampton, Rockspring partner and fund director of the TransEuropean series. 'We feel these are excellent additions to the portfolio and we are looking forward to bringing the projects to fruition and to maximising their value for our investors.'
One of the buildings is located on Avenida 24 de Julho and the second on Rua Dom Luís I, and in total they will provide 22,000 m2 of office space with views over the Tagus River. Rockspring's partner is local developer, The Edge Group, with the designs by architects practices, Ana Costa Arquitectos and Fragmentos Arquitectos. Work is already well underway on the renovation of the two properties.
The 24 de Julho building has been pre-leased in its entirety to WPP, the world's largest advertising and PR company, while pre-letting is underway at the Dom Luís I building, which will also have a roof top bar.
Launched in TEP VI is a diversified, leveraged pan-European investment programme with a focus on office, retail, residential and industrial properties in large metropolitan areas of core Western Europe, including the UK.
The fund focuses on Europe's 'most economically vibrant areas' and those benefitting from positive urbanisation trends. 'In particular, Santos presents exceptionally compelling sub-market characteristics, especially in relation to occupational demand, being a popular location for studios, galleries, media companies and leisure and lifestyle brands in particular,' the company said.
The latest two acquisitions complement earlier commitments to projects in Geneva, London, Birmingham and across France and follow the announcement of the fund's final close which took place ahead of target at €430 mln in mid-July. Together with expected leverage of up to 55%, the fund’s total firepower is expected to be just under €1 bn. The programme can be classified as ‘value-add’ in terms of risk, albeit income is expected to be a key driver of the 15% per annum target return.
