Union Investment Real Estate has acquired an office tower in Houston for €440 mln in the latest example of its strategy to expand in strong secondary markets in the US.
Union Investment Real Estate has acquired an office tower in Houston for €440 mln in the latest example of its strategy to expand in strong secondary markets in the US.
After buying in Austin (Texas) and Minneapolis (Minnesota), the Hamburg-based real estate investment manager has now entered a third US market outside of the traditional east and west coast investment regions in just 20 months.
Union Investment Real Estate has been active in the US property markets for 30 years. The US portfolio currently comprises 10 office properties valued at €2.2 bn. Following the latest acquisitions, the US is now the company’s third most important national market after Germany and France based on asset value. Union Investment has asset under management of some €26.3 bn in 20 real estate funds. The company operates in 24 countries around the world.
1000 Main Street
Union Investment secured the 36-storey office property, 1000 Main Street, in the central business district of Houston, Texas for Unilmmo: Europa. The vendors are institutional clients of Invesco Real Estate USA. Union Investment's New York office was advised on the transaction by Metzler Real Estate.
Completed in 2003, 1000 Main Street comprises 77,000 m2 of rental space and achieved LEED Gold certification in 2013. The property is fully let with an average lease term of more than seven years to 10 companies with good to very good credit ratings. The tenants include Shell, NRG Energy and UBS.
Houston
The Houston metropolitan region has a population of 6.3 mln and its office market comprises some25 million m2, making it the tenth largest in the US. One of the fastest growing metropolitan regions in the US, the self-styled 'Energy Capital of the World' is home to 25 of the world’s 500 largest companies (Fortune 500).
'The prospect of further, sustainable job growth across many sectors means that Houston is one of the most compelling US investment markets and an attractive alternative to the classic gateway cities,' said Martin Brühl, head of international investment management at Union Investment. 'Our two acquisitions in Houston and Austin give us a good toehold in the Texan market which will help us to move forward with further investments for our funds.'
Top Investors
Union Investment features in 23rd position in PropertyEU's Top Investors ranking of dealmakers in Europe by transaction volume in 2014. Check out the Top Investors App for the ranking and background information on the top European dealmakers of 2014.
