* Savills expects commercial real estate investment volumes in Europe to reach €230 billion by the end of 2019, marking the sixth consecutive year that volumes exceed €200 million, Europe Real Estate reported. Savills noted that the persistent high investment volumes highlight the continent's status as a safe haven for investors.
Poland, Denmark, Finland and Portugal are expected to exceed their five-year averages in terms of commercial real estate investment volumes, the publication added.
* Swiss property manager Empira AG launched its fourth debt fund with a €500 million target capital, IPE Real Assets reported. Empira Real Estate Finance Fund IV's strategy is to acquire a 50% stake in projects by providing subordinated mezzanine loans to residential and commercial property developers in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the Benelux region, according to the report.
UK
* Germany's Allianz Real Estate Holding teamed up with asset manager AEW UK for an investment platform that will fund speculative logistics projects in the U.K. The venture has secured €290 million in committed capital from Allianz group insurance companies, according to a release from Allianz Real Estate.
The partners will focus on properties measuring 200,000 square feet or larger, and they already have identified potential opportunities in established logistics locations in the U.K.
* Housing association Peabody bought the former Holloway Prison site in London from the Ministry of Justice with plans to develop 1,000 residential units, 60% of which will be affordable, Property Week reported. The association also plans to develop new green spaces, play areas and local shops, among other things.
The site was acquired using a £42 million loan from the Mayor of London's Land Fund. Work is expected to commence by 2022, subject to planning consent, with completion of the first affordable homes expected in 2026.
* Schroder Real Estate Investment Trust Ltd. signed unconditional contracts to sell the Victory House office building in Brighton to an unnamed institutional buyer for £36.1 million, with the sale scheduled for completion April 30.
The property spans 84,988 square feet and is let to BUPA Insurance Services Ltd. and Mott MadDonald Ltd. The deal price reflects a net initial yield of 4.9% on expiry of a rent-free period in September 2019.
* Knight Frank research indicates that office rents in Edinburgh logged an estimated growth of 4.5% in 2018, placing it among the top 20 global business hubs in terms of prime office rents and rental growth, Property Magazine International reported. Prime office rents in the city are expected to increase 2.9% to £36 per square foot in 2019 and are expected to hit £40 per square foot by the end of 2022.
Germany
* Italian life insurance company Poste Vita teamed up with German asset manager Antirion Sgr to buy the Königsbau Passagen mixed-use asset in Stuttgart's city center for €280 million, according to PropertyEU.
* NAS Invest GmbH bought the Spreeturm office project in Berlin in an off-market transaction from DWI Group for an undisclosed price, Europe Real Estate reported. The newly developed 20-story building is in the Mediaspree urban quarter and has a gross lettable area of roughly 13,500 square meters. The building is slated for completion in 2020.
* Commodus Real Estate Capital GmbH plans to invest between €200 million and €300 million in German property acquisitions in 2019, aiming for up to €100 million per transaction, Property Magazine International reported.
* Bayerische Versorgungskammer, or BVK, acquired a 71,000-square-meter logistics portfolio of six German assets through a new investment vehicle with Universal-Investment, IPE Real Assets reported. The forward-funding deal, for an undisclosed price, was signed with MP Holding and Isarkies Wohn- und Gewerbegrund.
The assets, in Maisach, Moosburg, Dingolfing, Neu-Isenburg, Nordenstadt and Weiskirchen, are expected to be completed between late 2019 and early 2020.
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