German asset management giant Union Investment has acquired the Diamond office building in the Belgian city of Ghent from a joint venture between Flemish developers Global Estate Group and Life Tree Group.
Financial details were not disclosed.
The deal was executed through Union's acquisition of property company Global Life Tree, the Belgian entity which owns the asset. The office was purchased on behalf of open-ended special real estate fund UII EuropeanM, which targets institutional investors.
'Ghent is the third largest city in Belgium and has a strong economy. Due to limited availability of office space, tenant demand for modern, centrally located office space is high,' said Wolfgang Kessler, a member of the management team at Union Investment Institutional Property.
Completed at the end of 2019, the office building is free-standing and sits above a public underground car park with some 3,000 parking spaces. The eight-storey, 16,000 m2 property has seven office floors plus a ground-floor lobby flanked by a restaurant open to the public. The building is fully let to Dutch financial services provider ING and Belgian railway operator NMBS. It has Breeam Very Good pre-certification.
The asset is located in the Sint-Pieters inner-city development area, where the city authorities and Belgian railway company NMBS are creating offices, housing and parks. The building is located immediately next to Ghent-Sint-Pieters railway station and features an asymmetrical glass façade, reminiscent of a diamond.
