Trigranit and Heitman form joint venture for Arena Centar

Trigranit Development Corporation has formed a joint venture with Heitman European Property Partners IV (HEPP IV) for the Arena Centar Shopping Center in Zagreb, Croatia. Both Trigranit and HEPP IV will hold a 50% stake in this newly developed, landmark (180,000 m² ) mall. The transaction includes two land plots for a future potential extension of the retail centre and the development of a mixed-use project including office, residential units and a congress center.

Trigranit successfully opened the Arena Centar in November 2010 and has now 95% leased. The development offers 60,000 m² of retail accommodation comprising 220 stores and more than 3,000 parking spaces. Main tenants include internationally renowned retailers such as Zara, GAP, Esprit, Apple Stores, and Swarovski, as well as southeast Europe’s first IMAX theatre.

With EUR 505 mln in equity commitments, HEPP IV is the fourth and latest in a series of European value-added property investment funds managed by Heitman, which has been active in the region since 1995, said Gordon Black, Managing Director of Heitman’s European private real estate equity group.

HEPP was represented by Cushman & Wakefield and law firm Salans. The deal follows hard on the heels of HEPP IV’s recently announced joint venture with Spanish developer Neinver for the management of the Galeria Malta Shopping Center in Poznan, Poland.

In a reaction, Árpád Török, CEO of Trigranit Development Corporation said the company had selected Heitman because 'we are convinced that with their experience and capital base we’ve found a long term strategic partner. Trigranit will continue city center development now with great focus on Ljubljana and Poznan.'

'The Arena Centar joint venture provides a very special opportunity to take advantage of Croatia’s improving demographic fundamentals as it prepares for EU entry with a partner similarly experienced in the property markets of Central Europe,' said Rob Reiskin, Co-Head of Heitman’s European private real estate equity group. 'We are very pleased to be teaming with Trigranit on the ownership and management of the Arena Centar as we work together to develop this top quality real estate investment.'

Trigranit said the deal marked the largest property investment transaction in Croatia to date. The financial resources are secured by the same six banks (Intesa Sanpaolo, Erste Group, Hypo Investment Bank, Cassa di Risparmio della Repubblica di San Marino, MKB Bank and CIB Bank) which participated in the club deal transaction providing financing for the Arena Centar project development.

Budapest-based Trigranit is a fully integrated real estate investment, development and management company with operations in seven countries in Central and Eastern Europe and a pipeline of over EUR 4 bn of major mixed-use developments, as well as a number of public private partnership (PPP) investments.

Chicago-based Heitman manages over $21 bn (EUR 16.1`bn) in assets invested directly and indirectly in real estate in North America, Europe and Asia. The firm's clients include US and international institutions, pension plans, endowments and foundations, and individual investors. European investments span 15 countries with $3.4 bn currently under management. In Europe Heitman has a staff of 40 across four offices in London, Warsaw, Luxembourg and Moscow.