BELGIUM
City specialist ATENOR has reached agreement with transport provider TEC Hainaut to sell the last office building of the Au Fil Des Grands Pres mixed-use project in Mons.
TEC Hainaut is the bus network of the Hainaut Province, part of the Walloon Public Transport Company.
In August 2012, ATENOR signed an agreement for the acquisition of two parcels of land in the future Calatrava station district, near the center of Mons. In 2015, work started on the mixed-use project to develop a new sustainable neighbourhood including residential units, offices and also local shops.
The Au Fil Des Grands Pres mixed-use project is in a district undergoing major redevelopment, opposite the Grands Prés shopping centre.
Mixed-use project in two phases
The mixed-use project is divided into two phases. Phase one started in 2015 with the construction of 266 residential units, all sold. Phase two will be allocated to the development of around 350 residential units and over 14,000 square meters of offices and local shops.
The focus of Au Fil Des Grands Pres is on sustainable design, with particular emphasis on comfort and energy saving.
The office part of the mixed-use project will meet NZEB (Nearly Zero Energy Building) requirements. The sale in future state of completion concerns the last lot of the project (LOT 02) and a 3,066 square meter floor area whose permit, cleared of any claims, was issued by the Walloon Region authorities on 20 November 2019.
This new agreement concludes the entire sale of the Au Fil Des Grands Pres project to renowned investors.
TEC Hainaut follows the acquisitions by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation (FWB) and the National Employment Office (ONEM) respectively for the 8,608 square meter office building P and the 2,917 square meter O1 office building. This sale will have a positive impact on ATENOR results in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Source: https://www.atenor.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/2020-Vente-MONS-TEC-EN.pdf
Sale of light industrial unit
GERMANY
Pan-European investor and asset manager M7 Real Estate (M7) has sold a light industrial property in Ottobrunn, Bavaria.
The sale has been made behalf of M7 European Real Estate Investment Partners IV. The purchaser is part of the Accumulata Real Estate Group. Both parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
The warehouse building with ancillary office space at Christa-McAuliffe-Strasse 1, has a lettable area of around 13,650 square meters. The building, which was constructed in 1982, has 130 car parking spaces. It is occupied on long leases by two strong covenants, Flugzeug-Union Süd GmbH and Carl Stahl Süd GmbH, and its weighted average unexpired lease term (WAULT) is seven years.
Asset management strategy
M7 acquired the property on behalf of the fund in 2017 when it also assumed the role of asset manager. Following the acquisition, M7 implemented an active asset management strategy, increasing the occupancy of the building to 92%. Accumulata will be taking over as the long-term asset manager of the property.
Richard Fletcher, Head of Transactions at M7 Real Estate Germany, says, “Purchased as part of a portfolio for M7 EREIP IV, we have demonstrated our asset management expertise by reducing the vacancy and improving the long term cash flow of the property. Having identified this opportunity and stabilised the income in accordance with our business plan, we decided to sell the asset generating attractive returns for our investors.
M7 continues to explore opportunistic sales, where appropriate, on behalf of the fund.
Tobias Döscher, Head of Transaction Management at Accumulata Real Estate Investment Management GmbH, says, “We are pleased to purchase the property in a location which is significantly improving. The combination of a stable cash flow and potential for a future increase in value is a perfect fit with our long-term investment strategy.”
Law firm, Luther Rechtsanwälte, advised M7. Dentons, Oppenhoff & Rädler and Drees & Sommer advised Accumulata. Realogis Immobilien Munich acted as brokers for Accumulata. The image is credited to Realogis.
2.2-acre plot purchased above book value
UK
Land and property investment specialist Harworth Group plc has made a land sale at Logistics North at above book value.
The sale has been made, as the scheme, the largest live commercial development in the North West of England, nears completion.
The company has sold the 2.2-acre Plot C1 at the development’s entrance, to A&F Forecourts Ltd (A&F), at a price above book value.
Tremendous success story
Steven Knowles, Regional Director – North West, Harworth Group plc, says, “Logistics North has been a tremendous success story for Bolton and the North West and this latest deal edges us closer to realising our vision for the scheme. We are hopeful that we will be able to conclude the development of the site by the end of next year, delivering further jobs and investment well ahead of our initial schedule.”
This is A&F’s second deal with Harworth at Logistics North, following the business’ acquisition of the nearby 0.73-acre Plot A4 in December 2019.
A&F has planning permission from Bolton Council for a petrol filling station, forecourt shop, car wash and Electric Vehicle charging points. Construction is planned to begin in September and is estimated to take 12 months to build out.
Dave Jones, Non-Executive Director, A&F Forecourts Ltd, says, “We are delighted to have completed this investment acquisition and to be able to add this exceptional site to our portfolio. It has been a pleasure working with the team once again at Harworth and we are particularly grateful for the expert input received from Lamb and Swift Commercial Property services and HSBC plc. We now look forward to pressing ahead with the development phase to reinforce our contribution to the Logistics North success story.”
Deliver 7,000 jobs
Harworth received outline planning consent for Logistics North at the end of December 2013. Nearly 6,000 people are now employed on the site by a range of different occupiers including Amazon, Aldi, Whistl, MBDA, Greene King, Costa and Komatsu.
Once complete, the development will deliver over 7,000 jobs and add around £300million in Gross Value Added to the Greater Manchester economy per annum.
Only two plots at Logistics North remain available for development.
A reserved matters planning application has been submitted to Bolton Council for the development of Plot H, a 4.4 acre plot capable of accommodating a unit of up to 50,809 square feet with a determination expected by the end of the Summer.
In addition, Multiply Logistics North – the joint venture between Harworth and the LPPI Real Estate ACS c/o Knight Frank Investment Management (KFIM) – has reserved matters planning consent in place for Unit F2/H. This could deliver over 130,000 square feet of institutional quality space capable of supporting a wide range of occupier uses.
Matthew Whiteley, Development Manager – North West, Harworth Group plc, says, “We have been very impressed by the plans A&F has put forward for Plot C1. The development will provide additional facilities for Logistics North’s existing occupiers and local residents, whilst the EV charging points will further future proof the development. I look forward to it being delivered over the next twelve months.”
JLL and B8RE acted for Harworth and Lamb & Swift acted for A&F, whilst Eversheds provided legal advice.
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