Hamburg-based Union Investment Real Estate said it has purchased the Torre Paris building in Santiago de Chile for its UnImmo: Global fund for a total investment of about EUR 36.5mln, as it continues the expansion of its Latin American property portfolio. Union Investment said the acquisition of the almost fully let 20-storey building fits with a strategy of investing in emerging markets in Latin America that offer correspondingly good prospects for rent increases. It noted vacancies are between one to two percent in the mid-range to premium office space segment in Santiago, evidence of Chile's dynamic economic growth.
Hamburg-based Union Investment Real Estate said it has purchased the Torre Paris building in Santiago de Chile for its UnImmo: Global fund for a total investment of about EUR 36.5mln, as it continues the expansion of its Latin American property portfolio. Union Investment said the acquisition of the almost fully let 20-storey building fits with a strategy of investing in emerging markets in Latin America that offer correspondingly good prospects for rent increases. It noted vacancies are between one to two percent in the mid-range to premium office space segment in Santiago, evidence of Chile's dynamic economic growth.
Completed in 2001, the Torre Paris building comprises 13,300 m2 of office and retail space. Key tenants include Dell Computers, Barrick, a representative office of the European Union, as well as a Starbucks.
Following this investment, UniImmo's global fund has now invested about EUR 274mln, or approximately 15.7% of its property assets, in Latin America’s commercial real estate markets. The regional investment focus is currently in Mexico, Union Investment said, where five properties are held either directly or via real estate companies, while this is the second acquisition in Chile for the fund. Union Investment has a total of EUR 383 mln invested in the region through three funds, with an aim to expand and further diversify the portfolio in Central and South America.
‘Chile and Mexico - two countries offering a high level of economic and political stability - provide the ideal conditions for real estate investment at present, across all usage types,' Union Investment management board member Michael Montebaur said in a statement. 'In addition to office and logistics space, we are also looking for attractive investment opportunities in selected retail markets.'
