Union Investment acquires new retail property in Hanover

Union Investment Real Estate has acquired the Kröpcke Centre retail redevelopment on the main shopping street in Hanover's city centre.

The Hamburg-based fund manager carried out the transaction for its open-ended real estate fund Unilmmo: Deutschland. The vendor was the Centrum Group Düsseldorf consortium, comprising Uwe Reppegather and First Kröpcke.

The parties agreed not to disclose the purchase price. Dating from 1972, the Kröpcke Centre has been extensively modified and rebuilt by Centrum. Completion is scheduled for early 2014.

Based on turnover and centrality ratings, Hanover is one of the top three locations in Germany. As the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony, it is by far the most important regional centre. With almost 520,000 inhabitants, it is also one of the most popular shopping cities in Germany.

The Kröpcke Centre is situated at the junction of Georgstraße, Bahnhofstraße and Karmarschstraße. Peek & Cloppenburg Hamburg was the anchor tenant in the old Kröpcke Centre for 30 years. In the new property, Peek & Cloppenburg will be opening another flagship store at the start of 2014 offering some 11,000 m2 of retail space. In addition, there will be 15 individual shop units with approximately 5,100 m2 of space.