Union Investment cashes in Fürstenhof for EUR 126m

Union Investment has sold the Fürstenhof office building in Frankfurt's financial district for EUR 126 mln. The buyer is DFH Deutsche Fonds.

Originally built in 1900 and completely modernised in 1992 while retaining the historic façade, Fürstenhof comprises 18,450 m² of contemporary office space and is almost fully let to Commerzbank.

The sale price is in line with the most recent valuation. Union Investment bought the property from Eurocastle Investment in May 2008 for its open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Deutschland.

'Current market conditions are throwing up a host of good selling opportunities that we are eager to leverage for our funds,' said Dr. Frank Billand, a member of the management board of Union Investment Real Estate.

The intention is to re-invest the proceeds of the sale soon. Billand: 'As part of our core strategy, we are also on the look-out for investment opportunities, particularly in Germany.' So far this year, Union Investment has invested some EUR 440 mln in office and retail properties in Germany, including the Hofgarten Palais office block in Düsseldorf and Alexa shopping centre in Berlin.

DFH Deutsche Fonds is a subsidiary of Deutsche Immobilien, a public limited company involved in real estate development, fund and asset management throughout Germany.