AEW’s Europe City Retail Fund has acquired a 3,000 sqm mixed-use building in the centre of Budapest for around €18 million. The sellers of the high street building were the Pallas Athéné Foundations, created by the Central Bank of Hungary.
The ground floor and the first floor of the building have recently been renovated and are currently occupied by a Berskha fashion store and a Vapiano restaurant. The second floor is vacant and is to be leased as office space. The rest of the seven-story property is residential.
Also known as the Kasselik House, the property was acquired by the Central Bank of Hungary’s foundation three years ago. During these three years, the property generated an income of €2.37 million.
“This is one of the best retail assets in Hungary, reflecting our highly selective acquisition strategy that, in the CEE region, will focus predominantly on Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic. These core regional economies have benefited from high GDP growth, with falling unemployment and strong retail sales, underpinning our decision to broaden the portfolio into these geographies,” says Nikos Koulouras, the European Co-Head of Investments for Private Equity Funds at AEW.
Dentons and JLL advised the buyer while DLA advised the seller.
With this acquisition, the Europe City Retail Fund now has a €520 million portfolio of 13 assets in nine cities, including Copenhagen, Dublin, Madrid, Milan and Paris.
