Union Investment has sold a retail park in Eidelstedt, Hamburg. The property at Hörgensweg 5 in north-west Hamburg was added to the portfolio of institutional open-ended real estate fund UniInstitutional European Real Estate in 2007, making it one of the oldest holdings in the fund. The buyer is the LHI Group, based in Pullach im Isartal.
“Eidelstedt retail park has generated stable rental income for the fund for around 17 years. The profitable sale demonstrates the resilience of grocery-anchored retail real estate as an asset class and attests to the quality of our commercial property portfolio. This sale is another example of our commitment to active management of the fund. We have further reduced the age of the portfolio and proactively created additional liquidity buffers in a highly dynamic investment environment,” said Carsten Thiel, who is responsible for open-ended real estate funds at Union Investment.
Built in 1967, the retail property was extensively restructured in 2005 as a retail park. It offers total rental space of around 14,672 sq m and is currently 100 per cent let. The anchor tenant is food retailer EDEKA.
“Demand for grocery-anchored retail real estate, which represents a liquid asset class even in the current market environment, is stable. We see this as an opportunity to realize further strategic disposals and diversify our portfolio through selected acquisitions in Europe,” said Laura Roll, Senior Investment Manager Retail at Union Investment.
Union Investment was advised on legal aspects of the deal by Möhrle Happ Luther and on tax aspects by Heuking. The buyer was advised on legal aspects by Noerr Partnergesellschaft mbB. The technical due diligence was done by WITTE Projektmanagement GmbH. The transaction was brokered off-market by JLL.
