17 December 2019, Europe, Germany | Investment Management | News
The Catella Wohnen Europa Fund has made six acquisitions, three in Germany, two in the Netherlands and one in Denmark, totalling approximately €120 million and taking its assets under management to €925 million.
The fund managed by Berlin-based Catella Residential Investment Management (CRIM) and open to German institutional investors, made the investments in small-scale affordable housing complexes in Munich, Berlin and Wolfsburg for €65 million, with €35 in Nieuwegein and Deventer in the Netherlands and €15 million in the Taastrup suburb of Copenhagen. The transactions were executed through the AIFM-registered Catella Real Estate AG (CREAG) investment platform.
Michael Keune, Managing Director of Catella Residential Investment Management, said: “The fund’s latest acquisitions in Germany, The Netherlands and Denmark, are good examples of the main themes within its investment strategy. These include providing affordable rental homes by investing in small apartments in central locations of cities such as Munich and Wolfburg, where high rents are the norm due to high demand and constricted supply; or offering accommodation to key workers on relatively modest incomes who need to live close to major cities, as is the case in Copenhagen. The Berlin acquisition is targeted at the growing group of retirees who want to downscale in the size of their homes and move to affordable apartments, while continuing to live in the major cities.”
Germany
The property in Wolfsburg, which is located in the north of Germany near Hanover, is the largest of the three German deals and comprises a residential and commercial building purchased for almost €30 million. The property offers small affordable apartments, tailored to one-to-two-person households, for a very broad group of people including young professionals, singles and trainees.
In Munich, the fund has acquired a recently renovated and fully-leased multi-family complex with 30 apartments, for a total investment volume of approximately €15 million.
In Bernau, near Berlin, the fund has acquired a new senior housing development comprising six free-standing residential buildings, with a total of 84 apartments over a rentable area of 6,515 sqm and 68 parking spaces, for approximately €22 million from developer Wachtel Wohnbauten. The complex includes a facility for recreation and day care and is well-connected by public transport and the Berlin city motorway.
Benjamin Rüther, Director at CRIM, said: “In Bernau, we teamed up with Wachtel Wohnbauten because, like Catella, they have a strong track record and in-depth experience in catering to the special requirements of senior citizens. A senior living complex is completely different to a care facility and must be based on the needs of its tenants, so that moving from a regular house to an apartment is an attractive option for them.”
Denmark
Catella Wohnen Europa has also expanded its portfolio in Denmark, with the purchase of a fully-leased residential complex comprising 42 apartments in the suburb of Tåstrup. near Copenhagen. Dating from 2006, the complex offers affordable housing units at a location with excellent public transport connections to Copenhagen’s city centre, which can be reached by a 20-minute train ride. Following this purchase, Denmark accounts for approximately €175 million of Catella Wohnen Europa fund’s assets under management.
The seller was Topdanmark, which is the second-largest Danish insurance company.
Netherlands
In the Netherlands, the Catella Wohnen Europa Fonds acquired an 8,140 m² senior citizens' residential complex in the city of Deventer for approximately € 17 million from the seller AG Park Gooiland. The 2000 residential complex consists of three buildings with 84 senior-friendly apartments and 39 parking spaces. Another component of the complex is a third-party care facility, providing services catering to the needs of senior citizens.
In Nieuwegein, in the south of Utrecht, a former office building converted to 96 apartments has been acquired by the fund for € 17 million and is aimed predominantly at young professionals. This social group is strongly represented in Utrecht, the fourth largest city in the Netherlands with more than 350,000 inhabitants, and home to one of the most important and largest Dutch universities.
ENDS
About Catella Residential Investment Management GmbH (CRIM)
Catella initiated its first one billion-euro European residential fund in 2007 and this has produced average net returns for investors of 8.2% a year since launch until end-Q3 2019. The Team also launched the first specialised European Student Housing Fund in 2013.
CRIM is a subsidiary of Swedish Catella AB in Stockholm and its residential real estate business includes portfolio management, acquisition and sales and asset management. CRIM manages and advises several funds and mandates with assets under management of c. €4 billion across 10 countries in Europe.
For more information contact:
Lisette van der Ham
Head of PR & Corporate Communications
Catella Residential Investment Management GmbH
Upper West, Kantstraße 164,
10623 Berlin
M: +31 (0)6 83200561
E: lisette.vanderham@catella-investment.com
W: https://www.catella.com/immobilienfonds