- Gross lettable area of over 7,700 square metres
- Office property with multi-tenant occupancy in inner-city location
- Pre-let ratio of over 90 percent
- ESG compliant investment due to DGNB Gold certification
Hamburg, 22. November 2022 – HIH Invest Real Estate (“HIH Invest”) just acquired the MILESTONE 5c office development in a central location of Freiburg. It involves a six-storey office building with an additional recessed storey and a single-storey underground car park that will be constructed on Heinrich-von-Stephan-Strasse in direct proximity to the central railway station of Freiburg. The property, under development by STRABAG Real Estate, is scheduled to be completed by the second quarter of 2023. Its gross lettable area will add up to 7,711 square metres. The basement will include 64 car parking spots and plant rooms. A two-storey day nursery will occupy certain sections on the ground floor and the floor above. The property has already achieved a pre-let ratio of over 90 percent, with public-sector tenants accounting for 65 percent thereof – among them the state-owned enterprises Bundesbau Baden-Württemberg and Vermögen und Bau Baden-Württemberg. Other tenants include the German Red Cross. The property already has a DGNB Gold certification.
Daniel Asmus, Team Leader Transaction Management Germany at HIH Invest Real Estate, elaborated: “The development represents an attractive investment for our real estate portfolio. The centrality of the site in the inner city of Freiburg implies very convenient access to the public transportation system and close proximity to the central railway station, making Heinrich-von-Stephan-Strasse an attractive office location. The MILESTONE 5c, as part of the BUSINESSMILE development, implements various office formats, including private offices, combination offices and bull pens along with generously proportioned open-plan units. The fit-out of all units can be customised to meet the specific requirements of any given tenant. Accordingly, the office units provide a maximum in flexibility and alternative use potential, and we expect the units that are still available to be let soon.”
The office building offers staff plenty of amenities and very convenient infrastructure access. It is part of the BUSINESSMILE site where STRABAG Real Estate is developing an office quarter with a total lettable area of about 47,500 square metres. The quarter faces the highly frequented Heinrich-von-Stephan-Strasse, one of the most important office and services localities in the inner city of Freiburg. It is already home to renowned corporates and institutions such as BARMER GEK, Deutsche Rentenversicherung, KPMG GmbH and Commerzbank AG. Due to its location, the quarter has excellent transportation access to the motorway, railway and public transportation networks.
“We are pleased with the amazingly positive response to BUSINESSMILE as a whole, this latest sale to HIH Invest being a good case in point. All of the seven MILESTONE office schemes we developed have now been sold, and the kind of demand we have seen among office occupiers could not be stronger. What attracts companies is specifically the central location and its vibrant mix of uses. With the most recent lease signings in place, only about 500 square metres are still available at the quarter,” said Martin Lauble, Head of Division at STRABAG Real Estate in Freiburg.
“The acquisition of the DGNB Gold certified property MILESTONE 5c helps us implement the ESG strategy of the institutional fund. The modern and energy-efficient property offers tenants high-end customizable accommodation. It also delivers the social component that we integrated into our investment strategy in the form of a two-storey day nursery plus an annexed outdoor playground,” said Oliver Scholtz, Senior Fund Manager at HIH Invest.
The sale was closed as an off-market transaction on behalf of an institutional property fund. The legal and fiscal due diligence (DD) was performed by Ashurst LLP, based in Frankfurt. Drees & Sommer SE, the firm also responsible for the ESG due diligence, handled the technical due diligence (TEDD).
“The development represents an attractive investment for our real estate portfolio. The centrality of the site in the inner city of Freiburg implies very convenient access to the public transportation system and close proximity to the central railway station, making Heinrich-von-Stephan-Strasse an attractive office location. The MILESTONE 5c, as part of the BUSINESSMILE development, implements various office formats, including private offices, combination offices and bull pens along with generously proportioned open-plan units. The fit-out of all units can be customised to meet the specific requirements of any given tenant. Accordingly, the office units provide a maximum in flexibility and alternative use potential, and we expect the units that are still available to be let soon.” Daniel Asmus, Teamleader Transaction Management Office, HIH Invest Real Estate
“We are pleased with the amazingly positive response to BUSINESSMILE as a whole, this latest sale to HIH Invest being a good case in point. All of the seven MILESTONE office schemes we developed have now been sold, and the kind of demand we have seen among office occupiers could not be stronger. What attracts companies is specifically the central location and its vibrant mix of uses. With the most recent lease signings in place, only about 500 square metres are still available at the quarter.” Martin Lauble, Head of Freiburg Division, STRABAG Real Estate
“The acquisition of the DGNB Gold certified property MILESTONE 5c helps us implement the ESG strategy of the institutional fund. The modern and energy-efficient property offers tenants high-end customizable accommodation. It also delivers the social component that we integrated into our investment strategy in the form of a two-storey day nursery plus an annexed outdoor playground.” Oliver Scholtz, Senior Fondsmanager, HIH Invest Real Estate
