AEW has acquired the Aisch-Park-Center in Germany, a newly developed retail park, located in Nuremberg, on behalf of a joint venture between two of its funds Actipierre Europe and Pierre Plus.
The asset has been acquired from a joint venture between the Zauritz Group and the KLAPPAN Group.
The fully let property is located in the metropolitan area of Nuremberg, Bavaria’s second largest city, and comprises a total lettable area of 21,500 sq m and 700 parking spaces. The main tenants include high quality brands such as Rewe, H&M, Dehner, Netto and Woolworth. A total of 27 occupiers have committed to long term leases with an average length of over 10 years.
The scheme was recently completed and opened to the public in October 2018.
Matthieu Samaran, Investment Director at AEW, csaid: “The Aisch-Park-Center is strategically positioned and benefits from an economically strong catchment area. Together with its modern layout and strong tenant mix, it will offer the convenient ‘one-stop shopping’ concept, which is becoming more and more important for consumers. We expect the compelling mix of retailers to attract a high level of footfall.”
Greenberg Traurig acted as legal adviser for AEW. The vendor was advised by JLL and GSK Stockmann.
AEW has also acquired a prime, retail-led asset in Budapest, Hungary on behalf of the Europe City Retail Fund for circa €18m. 3 Vorosmarty Square is the Fund’s first acquisition in Hungary. The landmark property is 3,163 sq m in total and provides 3,072 sq m of retail and office space and is the former Luxus department store, giving AEW ownership of one of the most significant and well-positioned retail sites in central Budapest.
The first two floors of the property are anchored by the capital’s recently renovated Bershka flagship store and the Italian style restaurant chain Vapiano. The second floor is vacant and will be renovated and let as office space, further increasing returns. The rest of the building is residential.
The seven-storey building is positioned in the heart of Budapest’s pedestrianised shopping district and directly on Vorosmarty Square, which is home to a number of well-known brands in the adjacent streets including Zara, Nike and Moncler, and also comprises hotels and high-end residential and office assets.
RPA Perspective Nikos Koulouras, Co-Head of Investments - Private Equity Funds at AEW said: “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.”
Christina Ofschonka, Fund Manager Europe City Retail at AEW added: “We continue to leverage AEW’s extensive network to identify prime assets that are supported by positive fundamentals, across Europe’s major cities as we work to assemble a high-quality portfolio that will deliver value to our investors.”
AEW Ciloger manages more than €7bn of real estate assets across 22 SCPIs and 2 OPCIs aimed at private clients. The regulated asset manager offers access to investment in commercial real estate to over 94,000 private clients. AEW Ciloger ranks among the top five players in intermediated real estate investment in France and is developing expertise in all real estate asset management businesses for third parties.
AEW is one of the world's largest real estate asset managers, with €63.5bn of assets under management as at 30 September 2018. AEW has over 600 employees, with its main offices located in Boston, London, Paris and Hong Kong and offers a wide range of real estate investment products including comingled funds, separate accounts and securities mandates across the full spectrum of investment strategies. AEW represents the real estate asset management platform of Natixis Investment Managers, one of the largest asset managers in the world.
