Hamburg: Aviva Investors acquires, on behalf of one of its clients, Alexanderstrasse 1 in Hamburg from Quest Investment Partners
Hamburg, 13 October 2020. Aviva Investors, the global asset management business of Aviva plc, has acquired, on behalf of one of its clients, an office block formed of two interconnected buildings in Hamburg’s Alexanderstraße 1, from Quest Investment Partners.
The building, which together totals approximately 13,200 sq m of lettable floorspace, is fully let to the Municipality of Hamburg as part of a 20-years lease agreement. The rooms are home to the University of Applied Sciences (HAW), Hamburg’s second largest university, which also uses some of the spaces as offices.
Originally two buildings built in 1950 and 1979, the property was subsequently modernised in 2010. It is located in Hamburg’s central St. Georg district close to Lake Alster – between the central train station and the Berliner Tor office and business centre – and offers excellent public transport connections. Premium hotels such as the Grand Hotel Atlantic Kempinski and Le Méridien are all within walking distance, as are the two main shopping streets of Mönckebergstraße and Spitalerstraße, as well as theatres, galleries and the Kunsthalle art museum.
“We are pleased to make a new deal with the transactions team of Aviva Investors, following Neue Burg 1. The sale of this core property confirms our strategy of focusing on central locations in Germany’s top 4 cities,” says Luis Walther-Kraft, Head of Transactions & Partnering at QUEST Investment Partners.
Grégoire Bailly-Salins, Head of Transactions Continental Europe at Aviva Investors, added: “This acquisition adds to our existing portofolio of assets under management in Hamburg, including Neue Burg 1, ABC Straße 35 and Dornbusch 2 – 4. St Georg is an established location in the city, which already attracts core investors and large corporate tenants. We believe this submarket will improve further over the coming years, and add to the long-term potential of our portfolio under management.”
QUEST Investment Partners was advised by Hansa Partner Rommel & Meyer as tax adviser and SNP Schlawien as legal adviser. Aviva Investors was advised by DLA Piper, ARUP and BNP Paribas Real Estate.
About QUEST Investment Partners
Founded in 2016, QUEST Investment Partners is an investment and project development company with offices in Hamburg, Berlin, Munich and Frankfurt. QUEST focuses on investments in commercial properties with upside potential in top locations of major German cities and the Benelux countries. The team has extensive experience in the development of high-quality real estate projects. QUEST Funds is in charge of the fund business of the real estate company and makes individual investments in cooperation with institutional investors. The shareholders of QUEST Investment Partners are the managing directors Theja Geyer and Jan Rouven Künzel as well as the investment holding company of the Hamburg entrepreneur Erck Rickmers.
About AVIVA INVESTORS
Aviva Investors is the global asset management business of Aviva plc. The business delivers investment management solutions, services and client-driven performance to clients worldwide. Aviva Investors operates in 14 countries in Asia Pacific, Europe, North America and the United Kingdom with assets under management of £346 billion in assets as at 30 June 2019.
