UBM Development Czechia has sold an apartment building in the Timber Praha residential project to the real estate investment fund Future X1. Building M in the Timber Praha project, which represents the first multi-storey apartment building made of wood in the capital city, comprises 15 apartments with layouts from 1 + kk to 4 + kk and sizes ranging from 39 sqm to 110 sqm. The price of the transaction was not disclosed.
The real estate investment fund Future X1 plans to initially lease the apartments in the newly purchased apartment building in Řeporyje, Prague. Still, in the long term, it plans to sell its entire portfolio to a big foreign investor. Future X1 has been cooperating with UBM for two years and in that time has bought 16 apartments in the Arcus City residential complex, nine in the Astrid Garden project in Prague's Holešovice and four units in the Neugraf complex in Prague's Smíchov district. Timber Praha is being built as part of the Arcus City residential complex in the Prague-Reporyje district. A total of 62 flats with layouts from 1 bedroom to 4 bedrooms are being built in modern houses made of solid wooden CLT panels. The construction is scheduled for completion in the 4th quarter of 2024.
"Originally, we assumed that all apartments in the Timber Praha project would be sold into private ownership. We are pleased that our first timber apartment buildings in the Czech Republic quickly attracted interest from institutional investors. We found an agreement with Future X1 in a very short period of time, given our previous negotiations and mutual trust," says Thomas G. Winkler, CEO of UBM Development AG.
"We have bought several apartments from UBM in various projects (e.g. Astrid Garden or Arcus City), but they are too large for us to acquire as a whole. Now this is the first time we have opted for a whole house in one transaction. Building M in the Timber Praha project is the optimal size for us and it was logical for us to do so, also taking into account the synergies that are created by owning all the units at one address," says Ondřej Záruba, Managing Director and Investment Manager of the Future X1 Fund.
Thomas G. Winkler comments on the realisation of Timber Praha and the sales strategy. For us as a developer, reducing the carbon footprint during the construction and operation of buildings is a significant parameter. And this can only be achieved if the project works economically. In addition to being constructed of wood, Timber Praha is also highly energy-efficient thanks to the use of geothermal energy, heat pumps or photovoltaics. In 90% of our markets, i.e. Germany and Austria, the most common question for institutional investors is whether projects will retain their value in 10 years' time. And in the case of timber buildings, which represent a completely new way of building and thinking, they make their purchasing decisions very quickly. Today, it is the balance between economic and environmental considerations that plays a significant role for investors."
The Future X1 real estate fund acquired the Timber Prague apartment building in line with its vision to create a portfolio of at least 100 to 200 apartments in Prague. "When we reach such a portfolio, we would like to negotiate with a large German or Swiss real estate fund and sell everything to them as a whole," says the managing director of Future X1. Until then, he says, the fund will rent out the units in Building M in Timber Praha.
