(Berlin) - Hines Pan-European Core Fund (HECF), a fund managed by the international real estate firm Hines, announces a successful new lease for its retail and office property at Schloßstraße 20 in Berlin. The future anchor tenant with nearly 4,700 square meters is Globetrotter, one of the leading retailers of outdoor and travel equipment in Europe. The space previously rented by sport retailer SportScheck extends from the basement to the second floor. Globetrotter will open its newly defined experience store, with a workshop, café and Innovation Lab. The opening is scheduled for the end of September. The lease agreement has a term of 10 years.
Christoph Reschke, Co-Managing Director Germany at Hines, the asset manager of the property, says: “We are pleased with the rapid and very successful new lease. With Globetrotter, we have gained a renowned tenant which is an excellent match for our property and its prime location on the main shopping street of Berlin-Steglitz. This leasing success, in a thoroughly challenging market environment for retail properties, confirms the high quality and attractiveness of our property.”
The property in Berlin-Steglitz, completed in 2011, has been in the HECF portfolio since 2011. With 6,320 square meters of leasable space spread over six floors, the building is fully leased with well-known tenants such as Landesbank Berlin and the health insurance company DAK, in addition to Globetrotter. Schloßstrasse is a popular shopping street with excellent connection to local public transport and the Berlin city ring road via the A103, which can be reached in a few minutes. The building is DGNB Gold Standard certified.
Hines was advised by Comfort.
Hines:
Hines is a privately owned global real estate investment firm founded in 1957 with a presence in 205 cities in 24 countries. Hines has approximately $133.3 billion of assets under management, including $71 billion for which Hines serves as investment manager, including non-real estate assets, and $62.3 billion for which Hines provides third-party property-level services. The firm has 165 developments currently underway around the world. Historically, Hines has developed, redeveloped or acquired 1,393 properties, totaling over 459 million square feet. The firm’s current property and asset management portfolio includes 539 properties, representing over 232 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.
Since entering Europe in 1991, Hines has grown its European platform to include offices in 16 cities as well as a presence in 49 cities in 11 countries, with €20.9 billion of assets under management in Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. Visit www.hines.com for more information.
Hines Pan European Core Fund (HECF)
The Hines Pan-European Core Fund was set up in 2006 with the aim of providing investors with a resilient income profile derived from a diversified portfolio of high-quality assets located in inner-city locations across major European cities.
The Fund combines disciplined sustainable management policies with a risk-adjusted return profile and has been awarded the European leadership in the GRESB ranking for three years while delivering an average net total return of 9.0% between 2014 and 2019, with an income return of 3.5%.
As of Q1 2020 the HECF portfolio was 99.4% occupied with an aggregate value in excess of €1.6 billion. The portfolio of the Fund is currently composed of 22 assets invested in 15 city markets across eight different European countries.
The Fund has continually improved asset level performance of buildings by working in close collaboration with the local Hines teams and property managers and engaging tenants in a variety of ways. An example of this has been the drive to optimize the energy consumption of the buildings, resulting in a 12% reduction in like-for-like consumption since 2016. The total return of 7.6% achieved in 2019 illustrates that sustainability improvements could also be combined with strong performance for Fund’s investors.