Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate (Warburg-HIH Invest) has purchased KITE, a new office complex in Cologne, Germany, from the project development firm Landmarken AG as part of a forward funding deal.
The six-storey office building on Rudi-Conin-Straße has a gross lettable area of 22,800 square metres and 477 parking spaces. Some 75 percent of the lettable area has been leased for a term of 25 years to Sparkasse KölnBonn, the largest public savings bank in Germany.
The new office building in Cologne’s Ossendorf district will be transferred to an individual fund belonging to the provident fund organisation Rheinische Versorgungskassen Köln (RVK). Plans are in place to obtain DNGB gold certification for green buildings. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
“Acquiring the project under development at an early stage allows us to secure a very long-term lease with a loyal and creditworthy local tenant at a high-growth location in Cologne,” says Hans-Joachim Lehmann, Managing Director of Warburg-HIH Invest.
“With a vacancy rate of just over 2 percent, office space is in short supply in Cologne. On account of the city’s economic development, the situation in the market is unlikely to ease any time soon.”
READ ALSO : Warburg-HIH Invest buys new-build office scheme in Frankfurt
The new office complex is directly connected to the city’s rapid transit system and is located on the site of the former Butzweilerhof airport, one of the largest new residential and commercial developments in Cologne.
By 2022, some 5,000 people are expected to live and work on the 55-hectare mixed-use site, which will be home to residential, commercial and office properties. The district already plays host to 400 companies, including Coca-Cola and UPS.
The buyers were advised by the law firm Ashurst, with technical advice provided by ES Enviro Sustain.
