ARTICLES LABELLED WITH TAG Union Investment

One of the biggest transactions of the year in the Czech real estate market is about to take place. Negotiations for the sale of the OC Letňany shopping centre are supposedly ongoing in Prague. After six years, the German owner of the shopping centre is considering selling the property, writes HN.cz, as confirmed by two sources from the Central European M&A market.

Union Investment has sold the Maraton office building in Poznań, to a subsidiary of UNIQA Real Estate, the real estate company of the Austrian insurance company UNIQA Insurance Group AG. The building has been held by open-ended real estate fund Unilmmo: Deutschland since 2017. The purchase price was not disclosed.

Union Investment has acquired a new logistics building in the Polish town of Września, around 50 km east of Poznań. The acquisition will be added to the holdings of institutional fund UII Garbe Logistik Fonds. The seller is Netherlands-based online retailer vidaXL. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.

The commercial part of Horizon Development’s mixed-use property in downtown Budapest, Szervita Square Building was purchased by Union Investment for one of its institutional real estate funds. The parties agreed not to disclose details of the purchase price.

Union Investment and GARBE Industrial Real Estate jointly acquired the first logistics property for their “UII Garbe Logistik Fonds” investment fund. The seller is the Karimpol Group, a privately held property developer active in Eastern and Central Europe for over 30 years. It was agreed not to disclose the financial details of the transaction.

The coronavirus crisis has led to a significant shift in the investment strategies of institutional real estate investors. “Lower risk, lower return” is the mantra of the moment. 58% of the 150 professional investors in Germany, France and the UK surveyed by Union Investment for its investment climate study are currently pursuing such a strategy. The figure was just 35% prior to the outbreak of the pandemic. The shift is especially pronounced in the UK, where security is the main investment motive for 79% of those surveyed. Before the pandemic, it was 50%. Nonetheless, there is no general reluctance to invest. Only five% of the European investors in the survey intend to avoid all investment in real estate in the current phase.

Westbridge Advisory International AG, the international entity of operating cost optimizer Westbridge Advisory, has converted a portfolio of six office buildings for Union Investment in Poland to green electricity. By bundling the entire supply with a single utility and the switch of the entire portfolio to green electricity, it was possible to reduce CO2-emissions by roughly 7,600 tons. The properties, located in Warsaw, Wroclaw and Poznan, have a total rental area of around 155,000 sqm and an aggregated annual electricity consumption of 25 gigawatt-hours.

Horizon (formerly Horizon Plaza), a Class A office complex in Warsaw’s Mokotów-Służewiec district, is going through an overall rebranding process conducted by global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield. Union Investment, the property owner, decided to rename the office building, redesign its visual identity and landscape, introduce a new signage system in common areas and launch a new showroom. In spring 2020, more greenery, new tenant amenities and landscape elements will be added in the areas around and near the building.

Union Investment has agreed to acquire two planned hotel properties in Kraków and Katowice with a total of 527 rooms. The developer, vendor and future operator of the two midscale hotels, which are scheduled for completion in autumn 2021, is UBM. The purchase price of the ibis Styles-branded hotel in Kraków and Mercure-branded hotel in Katowice is approximately €86 million in total. Both leases run for 25 years.

Cushman & Wakefield was appointed property manager of Horizon Plaza in Warsaw. In addition, Cushman & Wakefield delivers project commercialization services for the owner of the building. The owner of Horizon Plaza is a real estate fund managed by Union Investment.