(LONDON) – Hines, the international real estate firm, and in partnership with IDeA FIMIT, the largest Italian SGR, has advised on the successful freehold acquisition of a seven-story retail and office building on via Dante 16, one of Milan’s main high streets, for €55 million by a company owned by the Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) separate account mandate.
The 64,500-square-foot 19th century building is located just south of the Castello Sforzesco in the core of the City of Milan and only a three-minute walk from Piazza Cordusio and the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele.
The property is almost fully leased, and will undergo redevelopment to create a flagship high-street store with office space at the higher floors. This transaction is the second acquisition by Hines for BVK, who appointed the investor earlier this year to execute a €1.3 billion separate account mandate targeting prime high-street retail property across Europe. The acquisition follows the purchase of an iconic building on Oslo’s Karl Johans gate in December 2015 which was secured as a sale and leaseback from Landkreditt Bank for €52 million.
Michael Topham, CEO of Hines Europe, said, “Italy has long been and continues to be a strategic market for Hines. The closing of this transaction helps to further strengthen our retail and expand our geographical reach across Italy.”
Lars Huber, CO-CEO of Hines Europe, added, “Italy represents an attractive market with significant potential. The quality of the building coupled with its excellent location and diverse income profile from both retail and office tenants make this asset a compelling proposition for BVK.”
Mario Abbadessa, Italy country head for Hines, said, “It is rare for major high-street buildings of this quality to come to the market. Hines will continue to increase its advisory capabilities in the country in order to create a stable and long-term platform.”
Prior to being appointed in December 2015 as responsible for the Italian activities of Hines, Abbadessa, who currently is based partly in London and in Milan, spent five years with Hines’ acquisition team in Milan and as a fund manager with Hines Italia SGR. Hines recently sold its interests in its regulated Italian fund management business to Manfredi Catella, who previously served as Hines’ country head for Italy.
Since entering Italy in 1999, Hines has developed 20 projects, including the landmark mixed-use development Porta Nuova in Milan, which includes 1,506,000 square feet of office, 1,345,000 square feet of residential and 430,000 square feetof retail and cultural venues.
GVA Redilco acted as the adviser for the seller, legal support was provided by Apollo & Associati and DLA Piper with Garretti e Associat providing the design brief. CBRE also advised.
Bayerische Versorgungskammer is the competence and service centre for occupational and communal pension schemes and Germany´s largest pension scheme group under public law. It is the joint executive body of twelve liberal professions´ and communal pension schemes. Bayerische Versorgungskammer covers about 2 million insured persons in total, with contributions of €4 billion and €2.9 billion pension payments annually. It currently has €62 billion assets under management and 1,200 employees. Visit www.versorgungskammer.de for more information
Hines is a privately owned global real estate investment firm founded in 1957 with a presence in 199 cities in 19 countries. Hines has $87 billion of assets under management, including $43 billion for which Hines provides fiduciary investment management services, and $44 billion for which Hines provides third-party property-level services. The firm has 104 developments currently underway around the world. Historically, Hines has developed, redeveloped or acquired 1,100 properties, totaling over 346 million square feet. The firm’s current property and asset management portfolio includes 531 properties, representing over 186 million square feet. With extensive experience in investments across the risk spectrum and all property types, and a pioneering commitment to sustainability, Hines is one of the largest and most-respected real estate organizations in the world. Visit www.hines.com for more information.