Union Investment enters Switzerland, shops in Japan

German investor Union Investment has acquired the CityWest Gebäude F office project in the centre of the Swiss city of Zurich for EUR 80 mln. The asset - Union Investments first in the country '- is earmarked for the open-ended fund Unimmo: Europa. The building will offer 20,400 m² of space and 84 parking lots on completion in mid-2010. The investors said it has a rental warranty of 24 months from completion with the seller Marazzi Generalunternehmung.

Additionally, the Hamburg-based investor has purchased the brand new office building Glass City Harumi in Tokyo's rapidly developing Harumi district. The transaction is worth well over EUR 100 mln and was carried out for Union Investment's open-ended real estate fund UniImmo: Global. The acquisition follows shortly after the purchase of the retail property Solado Harajuku, also located in Tokyo, which was acquired for UniImmo: Global in July 2008 for some EUR 90 mln.

'Glass City Harumi fits excellently into our portfolio strategy for UniImmo: Global of expanding the holdings in Asia. In particular we are focusing on further diversification of uses and locations,' says Steffen Wolf, managing director of Union Investment Real Estate Asia Pacific.

The fully-let building layout leads to a total of 11,200 m² of rentable area, which is spread over 12 storeys. Union Investment was advised by Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Hamburg.

Union Investment Real Estate added significantly to its property portfolio in the first three quarters of 2008, investing some EUR 1.5 bn in a total of 23 real estate projects and properties worldwide.