New York Investor Closes Acquisition of German Landmark Skyscraper

By Adrian Maties, Associate Editor

Frankfurt, Germany—NorthStar Realty Finance Corp. is now officially the new owner of Frankfurt’s Trianon office tower, one of the largest properties of this kind in Germany. The $600 million sale closed this month.

New York-based NorthStar announced in June that it had entered into a definitive agreement to buy a large Class A property in Germany, as part of its strategy to expand its European portfolio. Although the commercial real estate company did not reveal the name of the building at that time, the German media reported that the Trianon was the intended target. All doubt was set aside this week, when Madison International Realty and the Morgan Stanley Eurozone Office Fund, the owners of the Trianon, confirmed the sale of the building.

The Frankfurt landmark has 47 stories and a height of more than 610 feet. Madison purchased a stake in the building in 2012, and soon after started work on a plan to reposition the asset. Trianon’s entrance area has been modernized, its elevators have been refurbished and its lobby redesigned. In addition, the property also received LEED Gold Certification for sustainable real estate from the U.S. Green Building Council.

Madison’s efforts paid off and Trianon’s occupancy level increased from 85 percent in 2012, to 98.5 percent now, at the time of its sale to NorthStar. DekaBank is the building’s main tenant. In 2014, the German Central Bank signed a lease for more than 161,000 square feet of space at the Trianon, making it one of the largest individual lease agreements on the Frankfurt office market.

“At the time of purchase, we were certain that, with the right partners and the right business plan, we would be able to increase the value of this prestigious building in the financial district of Frankfurt. The successful sale confirms that our strategy was well-chosen,” Ronald M. Dickerman, founder and president of Madison, said.