Catalyst
Capital, the European real estate investment and asset management firm, has
acquired a substantial retail park near Cologne, Germany, for €55 million.
Catalyst has purchased the Erft Karree
Kerpen retail park, 25 kilometres east of Cologne, in partnership with
an overseas investor targeting assets in Germany, UK and
France. The vendor was the Aachen-based Nesseler Grünzig Group.
The 55,000
sq m (592,000 sq ft) retail park is a well-located convenience and destination
retail park that integrates well with Kerpen’s city centre and infrastructure.
Anchor tenants include OBI (DIY), Saturn (consumer electronics), Roller
(furniture), Staples (office supplier), Intersport, and dm (drugstore). It was
constructed in phases from 2010 to 2012 and comprises mainly single-story
units. The weighted average unexpired lease term is 8.5 years.
The
property was purchased through the acquisition of a property company for around
€55 million. Catalyst intends to work closely with the local municipality to
grow the centre.
Erft Karree
Kerpen is the third property acquisition that Catalyst has completed with its
new overseas partner, having acquired a
year ago Carl-Ulrich-Strasse 4, an
office asset in Neu-Isenburg, for €20 million and, two months ago,
Eschersheimer Landstrasse 50, a prime office building in Frankfurt, for €16
million.
Kean Hird, the
Catalyst partner responsible for the German and Polish regions, said: “This is
a classic Catalyst Capital acquisition. We are buying a well-located and
well-let investment, which offers the opportunity for us to apply our asset
management skills to add value through driving rental uplifts, repositioning
some units and developing new units on vacant plots”.