RREEF acquires Hamburg's Unilever-Haus from Hochtief

Deutsche Bank's RREEF Investment has acquired the Unilever-Haus office building in Hamburg from Hochtief Projektentwicklung for an undisclosed amount.

The complex is earmarked for RREEF's open-ended real estate fund Grundbesitz Europa. Completed in June 2009, the property consists of approximately 25,000 m² and is fully-let to Unilever Deutschland, as its headquarters for Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

'The acquisition of Unilever-Haus is trend-setting for numerous reasons; it indicates that attractive investments indeed exist in Germany; it demonstrates that we are able to continue to buy properties with excellent terms for the funds and therefore for its investors; and - most importantly - it recognises that green buildings represent the future,' said Georg Allendorf, head of RREEF Germany.

The building was named the 'World's Best Office Building' at the World Architecture Festival Awards (WAF) in 2009. Unilever-Haus was also recognized as an 'Outstanding Contribution to the Built Environment of Hamburg' at the Building Exchange (BEX) Awards in the same year.

The Unilever-Haus is the largest building in the world to feature a demand-driven LED lighting. The façade is encased with a special synthetic membrane to protect the building from cooling. Concrete core activation, heat recovery and environmentally-friendly construction materials are additional features. Unilever-Haus was the first building in operation to receive the preliminary certificate of the HafenCity Environmental Sign in Gold.