Hines Announces Large Logistics Facility Acquisition in Growing German Market
International real estate company Hines recently completed one of the largest largest logistics transactions to take place in central Europe in recent memory for an asset in the city of Erfurt, Germany.
By Alex Girda, Associate Editor
Erfurt, Germany— International real estate company Hines recently completed one of the largest largest logistics transactions to take place in central Europe in recent memory for an asset in the city of Erfurt, Germany. The Fiege Mega Centre is a single-tenant e-commerce logistics property located between Berlin and Frankfurt. The buyer acquired the industrial asset from a fund managed by CBRE Global Investors. Hines Global REIT now owns an industrial portfolio of around 4.9 million square feet in the Central-European country.
The logistics facility offers around 952,539 square feet of warehouse space and is currently fully leased out to the Fiege Group for the next decade. The property was completed in 1995, with the express intention of expanding the company’s retail operations, and is currently one of the most up-to-date facilities that the company inhabits. Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG provided the buyer with debt financing for the acquisition.
According to Senior Managing Director of Hines Germany Christoph Reschke, one of the main reasons that prompted the investment is the current strength of the country’s overall real estate market. “This property has particular appeal due to its strong tenancy, location in the central hub of Erfurt, and nearby access to public transportation, highways A4, A71 and A9, as well as numerous railways” Reschke says.
The solid nature of the country’s current real estate market was also widely discussed during this year’s EXPO Real trade fair in Munich, with Germany’s Big Five markets currently the only ones to keep up with London and to some extent, Paris. The overall logistics market has been going well in Germany, a Logistics Market Report issued by BNP Paribas Real Estate revealed. The study indicated that investment in the industrial sector in the country had been second only to the booming UK market, the volume of investment in these countries greatly outpacing other good markets such as France, Sweden, Norway and The Netherlands.
