The Daily Dose LIVE returns to the City of London on Tuesday, Oct. 1
* Commerz Real AG said it acquired the Millennium Portfolio in Germany from Generali Lebensversicherung AG on behalf of its open-end real estate fund Hausinvest. Institutional Real Estate Inc. reported that the portfolio was acquired for €2 billion.
The portfolio totals 49 properties, with 26 office, 14 residential and 9 retail assets, reflecting a total leasable area of more than 352,000 square meters. The properties are in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Cologne, Munich and Stuttgart, Giessen, Leipzig, and Unterhaching.
* AXA Real Estate Investment Managers SA's AXA Investment Managers - Real Assets acquired a portfolio of 11 hotels in major European cities from Principal Real Estate Investors Europe for €545 million.
Under its Principal Hotel Immobilien Spezial Fonds, Principal sold a portfolio of over 2,300 rooms in seven hotels in Germany including the Mondial Hotel am Dom MGallery in Cologne, the NH Hotels in Duesseldorf and Cologne, two Mercure Hotels in Berlin and Hannover, the Intercity hotel in Leipzig, and the Steigenberger hotel in Kiel. The other acquired assets are the Hilton Danube hotel in Vienna, the Ibis hotel in The Hague in the Netherlands, the Lux Hotel Lisboa Park in Portugal and the NH Hotel Turin Centre in Italy.
* WeWork Cos. Inc.'s landlords in London and New York are bracing for a drop in demand from the company amid mounting pressure following the delayed IPO of its parent company The We Co., Bloomberg News reported.
WeWork, which is the largest private sector tenant in both cities, has 7.2 million square of space in Manhattan, N.Y., as per CBRE Group Inc. The company has leased about 3.7 million square feet in London since 2014, according to Savills PLC.
* CBRE Ireland said 16 hotels were sold for more than €304 million in the first nine months of the year in Ireland as demand continues to outpace supply, particularly for hotels in Dublin city center, Property Magazine International reported. Recent hotel sales include Druids Glen Hotel & Golf Resort and the Central Hotel in the Irish capital.
UK and Ireland
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* U.K.-based property developer L&Q reportedly plans to slow its development program and undertake a recruitment freeze due to a housing market slowdown amid Brexit-related uncertainty, The Times (UK) reported. L&Q, which has 95,000 homes across London and the South East, plans to develop 100,000 houses in the next 10 years, with 50,400 homes in the pipeline.
The company's decision is also influenced by costs to the tune of over £200 million to meet fire safety regulations, the publication noted.
* A number of suitors are seeking to acquire leaseholds interests of multiple Thomas Cook Group PLC stores, with Polka Dot Travel looking to secure up to 30 sites previously operated by the collapsed travel firm across the U.K., Property Week reported. Polka Dot is eyeing acquisitions in Blackpool, Coventry, Liverpool, Rugby and Worcester.
Moreover, Just Go Travel is looking to acquire about 15 former Thomas Cook stores in the northwest region, the report added.
* Gatwick Airport inked a 15-year deal to lease 100,000 square feet of space at St. Modwen Properties PLC's St. Modwen Park Gatwick unit, which will be one junction south on the U.K.'s M23 highway from the airport, PW reported. The unit will include 14 dock level loading doors and roughly 20,000 square feet of office space.
Construction is due to start on the site's first phase in October, with completion expected within a year.
* U.S.-based Cloud Imperium Games decided against acquiring BASF's headquarters in Cheadle Hulme in Greater Manchester, U.K., citing Brexit-related uncertainties as a factor for its decision, PW reported.
Germany and Poland
* Publity AG received additional funding worth €85 million from its financing partner Meritz Financial Group and IGIS Asset Management under its existing cooperation agreement, Property Magazine International reported.
* Hines Global Income Trust Inc. bought a logistics property in Łódź, Poland, according to Property Magazine International. The more than 36,000-square-meter storage and light production facility is leased to Damco Poland, Deles Polska, Intelligent Logistic Solutions and Panasystem PL and Inter Cars.
Portugal
* Insurer Fidelidade - Companhia de Seguros SA plans to sell a portfolio of five office buildings in Lisbon and Porto worth about €100 million, PropertyEU reported. Fidelidade is owned by China's Fosun International Holdings Ltd.
Romania and Hungary
* White Star Real Estate, which operated in partnership with the investment fund of a U.S. university, acquired Liberty Technology Park in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, from Fribourg Development, according to Property Magazine International. Romania-Insider.com reported, citing Profit.ro, that the deal was worth about €40 million.
The office park was developed on a 4.5-hectare plot. Four buildings with an area of 17,000 square meters were renovated and modernized, 9,500 square meters of which are rented to about 20 companies.
* Real estate funds managed by OTP Real Estate Investment Fund Management acquired the 27,300-square-meter Corvin Technology Park in Budapest, Hungary, from Futureal Group for an undisclosed sum, Property Magazine International reported. The technology park is on the east side of Corvin Promenade, with the first phase providing 14,300 square meters of gross leasable area. The second phase comprising 13,000 square meters is expected to be handed over in November.
Middle East
* Residential property prices in Dubai fell 11.2% annually in the third quarter, Arabian Business reported, citing research from consulting firm ValuStrat. The firm noted that quarterly declines decelerated to 2.6%.
On an annual basis, three out of 26 locations — villas in Palm Jumeirah and Emirates Hills, as well as apartments in Dubai Sports City — were more resilient to downward pressure and saw single-digit declines.
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