ITALY
Allianz Real Estate has bought prime offices in Milan for €140million in a sale-and-leaseback deal with Crédit Agricole Italia.
The acquisition of the three connected prime offices in Milan in the central business district has been made on behalf of several Allianz group insurance companies.
The prime offices in Milan face Via Armorari and Via Cantù. The asset is spread over six floors above-ground plus two basements with a gross building area of 10,806 square meters.
Built in the early 20th century and fully refurbished from 2014-2019, the prime offices are very well positioned in the heart of the city’s financial district. The façade has a large gallery entrance on the ground floor.
Allianz Real Estate has acquired the prime offices through an existing fund structure managed by Kryalos SGR.
Headquarters in prime offices
The Via Armorari building will remain one of the most important headquarters of Crédit Agricole Italia, following the signing of a nine-year lease agreement for the entire asset. The agreement secures a long-term cash flow for the underlying Allianz insurance companies.
Italy is a core growth market for Allianz Real Estate. The firm is targeting to continue to grow its Italian portfolio in equity investments over the next three years. The focus will be on prime assets offering long term value, particularly through office assets in Milan and Rome alongside out-of-town logistics facilities and select investments in alternative asset classes.
Across 2019, the firm’s Italian deals included the acquisition for over €400 million in office and logistic alongside several redevelopments in Milan, Rome and Trieste for over 100.000 square meters.
Donato Saponara, Head of Transactions for West Europe & Country Head of Italy, Allianz Real Estate, says, “Despite the current environment, the acquisition of this prime office asset in Milan underscores our strong belief in the long-term strength of the market. It fits well within Allianz Real Estate’s investment strategy, adding a very high-quality asset to our portfolio that provides long-term, stable cash flows underpinned by a prime tenant.”
Alexander Gebauer, CEO for West Europe, Allianz Real Estate, says, “On a broader basis, we remain very active in Italy, particularly in the office sector in Milan and Rome, and are positive on the market on a select basis. The combination of our local team of experts and Allianz Real Estate’s global platform places us at an advantage as we are able to position our assets at the best international standards.”
London retail asset sold off-market for £25m
UK
Legal & General has completed the sale of 36-46 St John’s Road, Clapham Junction, a prime London retail asset, for £25million.
It has been sold on behalf of its BMW (UK) Trustees fund to a pension fund investor and reflects an initial net yield of 3.99%.
The property comprises a multi-let retail parade with Waitrose, the anchor tenant, responsible for 66% of the income. Fawcett Mead advised Legal & General on the sale. The image is taken by Google.
As part of the asset management strategy, the fund recently marked the topping out of One Victoria Street in Windsor, a 44,000 square foot wellness-focused Grade A office building featuring an indoor wellness and relaxation garden, roof terrace and entertainment space.
Owned in 50:50 partnership with L&G’s flagship UK Property Fund, contractors Bowmer + Kirkland is due to complete construction of the building in November 2020.
Exceptional opportunity
Rob Coding Fund Manager at Legal & General, says, “Against wider uncertainty related to Covid-19, the agreed price represented an exceptional opportunity for the fund within a generally challenging retail market.
“The sale demonstrates that, in the current environment, retail cannot be viewed as a single sector, with some elements – like food stores – continuing to generate considerable interest.
“Following the sale and in line with its asset management strategy, the fund will now aim to reinvest the profits into further diversifying its portfolio in sectors more accretive to future performance.
“As we look to create future value for the Fund, our investment at One Victoria Street will help boost job creation and stimulate the local economy, whilst providing an ideal base for companies working in the South East of England. This is a truly unique development, with views over Windsor Castle and Great Windsor Park, providing businesses with state-of-the-art facilities which will help drive employee, health, satisfaction and wellbeing.”
Jonathan Mills, Director at Fawcett Mead, says, “We are delighted to have completed successfully on this sale at an attractive exit price for Legal & General, clearly demonstrating the continued attractiveness of the foodstore market in an otherwise very uncertain environment.
“The fact that the property is majority let to a foodstore operator and pharmacy chain, both deemed as providing essential retail services, was undoubtedly a key driver for the transaction completing successfully. The property was sold off-market to a pension fund investor who we had identified as having a specific requirement for an investment that matched the subject property’s characteristics.”
Rented warehouse bought in Barcelona
SPAIN
Realterm Logistics
has acquired a 6,701 square meter warehouse in Palau Solità i Plegamans,
Barcelona.
The High Flow-Through Facility (HFT) is on the AP-7 motorway in Barcelona and
can be easily reached from Barcelona-El Prat Airport (BCN) and the Port of
Barcelona. The center of Barcelona is 25 minutes or less away.
The facility is rented in full and is the group’s first acquisition in Spain.
Realterm Managing Director, Balazs Lados, says, “We are excited to add this property, which offers exceptional functionality for a wide variety of HFT users serving the Barcelona region, for the RELF portfolio.”
Property highlights
Among the highlights of the property are:
- Installation area: 6,701 square meters in an installation area of 14,160 square meters
- Doors: 70 in total; 52 high springs and 18 van height springs
- Free height: 7.7 meters (warehouse) and 4.7 meters (under the office)
- Access: Port of Barcelona – 30 km; Barcelona Airport – 43 km; city center – 25 km.
Jaume Anfruns Grimaldi, of Savills Aguirre Newman, acted on behalf of the seller.
Realterm is a real estate operator with a nearly 30-year track record in executing specialized private equity strategies where the global supply chain meets emerging consumer trends. It currently manages more than $ 5.6 billion in assets through five series of logistics-focused private equity funds.
According to data from Savills Aguirre Newman, during Q1 2020 the volume of investment transactions into logistics assets reached over €440m across Spain. In 2019 overall, a total investment volume of around €1.65bn was achieved, of which the region of Catalonia received almost a 40% share.
Gloria Valverde, Director in the Industrial Division, Savills Aguirre Newman Barcelona, says, “In the current climate we find ourselves in thanks to the ongoing health crisis, developer and investor interest continues to be very high in the Catalan market which is characterised by a shortage of product availability mainly due to a lack of land and general investment opportunities.
“To alleviate this situation, demand will have to be increasingly creative in the analysis of operations with the aim of entering the market: urban management, rehabilitation, transformation or search for smaller assets.”
Source: https://www.prnewswire.com/es/comunicados-de-prensa/realterm-adquiere-una-instalacion-de-transcarga-en-barcelona-874405638.html and https://www.savills.gg/insight-and-opinion/savills-news/300183/realterm-logistics-debuts-in-spain-with-barcelona-warehouse-acquisition
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