Union Investment has entrusted the management of its existing German properties, comprising office and commercial premises as well as hotels, to EPM Assetis and Strabag Property and Facility Services. The 150-odd German real estate assets involved have a total value of EUR 4.2 bn, with each partner taking responsibility for roughly half of the portfolio.
Union Investment has entrusted the management of its existing German properties, comprising office and commercial premises as well as hotels, to EPM Assetis and Strabag Property and Facility Services. The 150-odd German real estate assets involved have a total value of EUR 4.2 bn, with each partner taking responsibility for roughly half of the portfolio.
The portfolio is the largest to be put out to tender for management in the last two years. Bell Management Consultants and Hogan Lovells provided support for Union Investment during the tender process, with some 10 companies bidding for the work.
'We have divided up the property portfolio into two vertical clusters of equal value. This has been done by valuation, complexity, rental income and size of the property in square metres, rather than according to location. This approach allows us to compare the performance of our service providers overall and also at regional level,' said Philipp La Pierre, head of the Asset Management Deutschland unit at Union Investment Real Estate. A catalogue of sustainability services has also been added to the services provided by the property managers. This includes management of the portfolio's carbon emissions, support services relating to certification of existing properties, activities in conjunction with Union Investment's Sustainable Investment Check on existing buildings and obtaining and checking energy performance certificates.
Union Investment started outsourcing the property management of its German holdings to provider M+W Zander in 2008 in a move to concentrate on adding value in its core business of investment, asset management and fund management.
