Hines Acquires 650 KSF Berlin Office Campus

By Barbra Murray

Allianz Campus Berlin

Hines has taken a big bite out of Germany’s office market with the acquisition of Allianz Campus Berlin, an office project to be predominantly occupied by Allianz Deutschland AG. Acting on behalf of a Korean real estate fund managed by Vestas Investment Management, Hines purchased the 650,000-square-foot office complex in a share deal forward funding transaction from Corpus Sireo Real Estate, the German real estate arm of Swiss Life Asset Managers.

Allianz Campus Berlin is being developed by Corpus Sireo, with FOM Real Estate GmbH onboard as general contractor. Schneider + Schumacher is the designer behind the project. “Allianz Campus Berlin will be the most modern and sustainable building in the best location of (science and media district) Berlin Adlershof,” Kai-Magnus Schulte, director of Hines Germany, said in a prepared statement. “For our investor, the acquisition of Allianz Campus Berlin represents a strategic decision.”

Allianz Campus Berlin will sit at the entrance of Adlershof Technology Park and feature three five-story buildings linked by two pedestrian bridges, as well as a 689-space carpark. The property will qualify for DGNB Platinum, the German Sustainable Building Council’s highest level of certification. Construction is on track to reach completion at the end of 2018, in time for the doors to swing open for the first tenants during the first quarter of 2019. Allianz will relocate from its current Berlin home at the Treptowers complex, and stay put in its new digs through 2034, per terms of its lease agreement.

Germany is ranking high on the investment radar

“The Allianz Campus Berlin represents a long-term investment in a core market where we continue to see demand,” Lars Huber, CEO of Hines Europe, noted in prepared remarks. “We will continue to seek further opportunities for investment in Germany as we continue to enhance our portfolio.” Hines, however, is hardly alone in its fondness for Deutschland. From Berlin to Frankfurt to Munich, the German commercial real estate market is proving to be quite a magnet for international investors.

During the first half of 2017, more than €26 billion ($30.3 billion) of commercial property traded, and a record total transaction volume of €60 billion ($69.9 billion) is forecasted for the year, according to a report by global real estate services provider Savills. “Demand continues to far exceed supply, which is reflected in the yields,” per the report. “Yield compression is no longer being driven by interest rates but by the high rental growth expectations of purchasers.”

Image courtesy of Hines