Catella’s flagship European Residential (CER) Fund has acquired three innovative residential projects in Vienna, Austria; Vitoria, in northern Spain, and Hamburg, Germany, for approximately €147 mln. Together, the three transactions boost the total investment volume of the fund to €1.5 bn.
In Vienna, CER has bought 250 new apartments from Austrian developer Haring Group for just under €56 mln. The apartments are part of a larger residential scheme under development in Vienna’s 22nd district, an up-and-coming area with one of the fastest population growth rates in the Austrian capital. In total, approximately 1,300 residential units will be built on the site, including a mix of condominiums, privately-owned and government-regulated rental apartments.
The development is scheduled for completion in 2023.
CER also acquired two standing properties in the social housing sector of Vitoria, the capital of the Spanish Autonomous Region of the Basque Country, for €51 mln. This was the first transaction by a foreign institutional investor in the Basque Country within the controlled rental housing segment. The almost 500 apartments are divided into one- and two-room apartments of between 60 m² and 90 m² and are fully let.
In Hamburg, CER has acquired a turnkey project development in the HafenCity port area in the city’s Baakenhafen/Elbbrücken district from Garbe Immobilien Projekt for around €40 mln. The building comprises 15 regulated apartments and 60 private-sector units in line with KfW-55 energy-efficiency standards.
Viktoria Hoffmann, Investment Advisor for the Catella European Residential Fund, said: ‘CER’s investment in Vienna is the fund’s first in the Austrian market and expands the geographical diversity of its portfolio to six countries and the reach of the Catella residential platform as a whole, which is already the largest cross-border investor in this real estate sector in Europe. The Vitoria acquisition ideally complements the portfolio in the affordable housing segment, a key feature of the investment strategy, as well as our focus on healthy regional residential markets, such as this city in Spain’s Basque Country. The Hamburg project has cutting edge sustainability features built-in. Together, these three deals, in part or whole, represent high quality additions to the affordable housing stock of the respective markets, which will be more necessary than ever when Europe emerges from the coronavirus crisis.’
Catella Residential Investment Management, a Germany subsidiary of the Swedish Catella group, initiated its first €1 bn European residential fund in 2007 and launched the first specialised European Student Housing Fund in 2013. CRIM manages and advises several funds and mandates with assets under management of €4 bn across 9 countries in Europe.
