Swiss Life buys Dresden residential asset from Peakside

Insurer Swiss Life Deutschland has completed the acquisition of a 24,000 m2 residential building in Dresden Klotzsche, Eastern Germany.

The asset was purchased from specialist European real estate private equity firm Peakside Capital for more than €25 mln.

Peakside acquired the asset in 2007 on behalf of Peakside Real Estate Fund I (PREF I) in an off-market deal from a distressed seller, as part of a 139,700 m2 German portfolio consisting of office and residential. The transaction represents PREF I’s 64th disposal.

The property, located in Dresden Klotzsche in Eastern Germany, is a 285-unit apartment complex which, in line with PREF I‘s strategy of active asset management and refurbishment, has achieved a 1.8% vacancy rate and seen an increase in passing rents to €6.3 per m2 since acquisition.

Peakside is owned by its employees and was established following a spin-out of the European Real Estate Principal Investments (EMEA REPI) division of Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofAML) in September 2010. As of Q3 2013, Peakside managed investments across eight different European countries totalling over €1.8 bn in gross asset value.