Spotlight
Positioning real estate for the future
Imagining and creating the future in our sites
We look at what an investment is, and at what it could become. That takes research, judgment and the willingness to act on both. 60 Gracechurch Street, a fully let office building in the City of London in our portfolio, could simply have been held for its income and sold in a favorable market. We saw something else: a site beside the City’s cluster of towers, one of the few locations where a high-rise can still be approved. We built our exit strategy around a tower concept of more than thirty storeys, tested against the City’s planning framework and taken into the planning process. That investment case was marketed, not the building alone. Today the high-rise is being realized by an international investor, and we captured part of its value for our investors at exit.
Enhancing value in our real estate assets
Value in real estate comes from buying at the right time, price and location, and from ownership afterwards. We acquired Jannowitz Center, a large, modern riverside office building in central Berlin, as a stable investment with a strong tenant base. Yet the building was not serving the demanding needs of today’s tenants: rents were moderate, and the leases would in time expire. Our underwriting centered on the tenants, how their requirements would develop and what we could offer in return. We opened that conversation immediately after the purchase and adapted the building where it made the difference. Creating a better building for our tenants, long-term visibility of enhanced rental income, and delivering significant value for our investors.
Investing in the future of living
How people live is changing, and the places that serve daily life, where people meet, eat, shop and come home, are where we see lasting value. Neuperlach, in the east of Munich, was built in the 1960s and 70s as one of Germany’s largest planned housing districts: well connected, home to tens of thousands of people, and without a real center. Perlach Plaza gives it one. We committed to the development while it was still under construction, and took an active part in crafting the setup and bringing the neighborhood together: a market square and a park, everyday shopping and restaurants, a hotel, homes for families and students, all above a subway station. Long-term anchored value created for our investors and a whole neighborhood.
