Values Real Estate has acquired the former telecommunications office in Hamburg-Rotherbaum for an investment fund of the Bavarian Supply Chamber (BVK) from the investment manager Peakside Capital Advisors.
The forward deal with the investment manager Peakside includes the property with a gross floor area of around 65,000 square meters.
The listed property at Schlüterstraße 51-53, which was the largest telecommunications exchange in the world at the time it was built, has been leased to the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg for 30 years.
In the transaction, Values acts as investment manager for a BVK investment fund managed by Universal Investment as AIFM in Luxembourg. The asset management of the property is taken over by Values. Peakside will continue to support this in the long term. The building ensemble was part of Peakside Real Estate Funds II and III (PREF II and PREF III) and is currently being extensively renovated on behalf of Peakside.
After completion and expansion, the property will be used by the University of Hamburg, the Leibniz Information Center for Economics (ZBW), the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA) and the Studierendenwerk Hamburg on 52,000 square meters.
“The long-term rental agreement with a state tenant and the planned ESG measures fit perfectly with BVK’s current investment approach. We are convinced that the property will generate stable and secure rental income for our investors,” says Norman Fackelmann, Head of Real Estate at BVK.
For Values Real Estate, Managing Partner Dr. Carsten Fischer: “The education and science center of the University of Hamburg at this centrally located location is an important milestone for the future development of the education and research location in Germany’s second largest metropolis. It is a forward-looking investment in the public services of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. For BVK, this investment offers long-term secure dividend yields. We look forward to working with our partner Peakside.”
Boris Schran, Managing Partner at Peakside, adds: “The former telecommunications exchange is a lighthouse project in our Manage-to-Green strategy. We preserve as much of the old structure as possible and at the same time raise the property to the most modern standards in terms of energy efficiency and interior design. At the same time, we are activating new areas by expanding the attic storeys and adding basements and roofing. We look forward to working together, also with the teaching and research tenants, in the further care of the house.”
