* German pension fund Bayerische Versorgungskammer awarded a unit of Signa Holding GmbH the mandate to invest approximately €1 billion in Austrian residential and commercial real estate markets through a new fund launched by Universal-Investment.
The fund will initially acquire four residential projects totaling 56,000 square meters and over 900 units in Vienna from Signa's portfolio.
* British property developer Landsec is believed to have appointed construction company Sir Robert McAlpine to develop the more than £200 million Deutsche Bank headquarters building at 21 Moorfields in the City of London, Construction Enquirer reported. McAlpine was in the running against Swedish group Skanska AB to bag the 564,000-square-foot development contract after Mace and Multiplex dropped out of the race.
UK and Ireland
* U.K. commercial broadcaster ITV is looking to divest its former headquarters in London's South Bank district after calling off plans to return to the site following its five-year revamp, London's Financial Times reported. The company relocated from the site in 2017 into its new office premises in the Holborn district and studios in the W12 area in the city.
* Professional social networking platform LinkedIn Corp. agreed to pre-lease IPUT plc's entire 150,000-square-foot One Wilton Park office development in Dublin. The building is slated for completion in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to a release.
* British real estate tycoon Nick Candy sold his One Hyde Park penthouse in London to offshore companies he controls in Guernsey for £160 million, making it the most expensive home ever to be sold in Britain, The (U.K.) Guardian reported. Candy sold the property to PHB London Holdings Ltd. so as to be able to remortgage it with an £80 million loan from Credit Suisse, according to the report.
* Home prices in Ireland grew 8.6% in August, marking the slowest year-over-year increase in almost two years due to the central bank's restrictions on mortgage lending and a supply glut in the market, Bloomberg News reported, citing the Central Statistics Office.
Germany
* South Korea's Hyundai Asset Management bought the former Lufthansa airline headquarters in Cologne from a consortium led by Mirae Asset Daewoo for an undisclosed amount, Property Investor Europe reported. M&G Real Estate was the seller of the 20,414-square-meter office building in the Deutz district, which currently houses the German federal government for a 15-year fixed term, according to the report.
* Principal Real Estate Europe plans to ramp up investments in the German hotel and healthcare sectors to offer investors an opportunity to spend on asset classes with improving yields, PIE reported, citing Paul Muno, the head of capital relations and Germany at the company formerly known as Internos Global Investors.
Principal Real Estate formed its second German healthcare fund earlier in 2018 to focus on nursing homes, as well as senior housing, rehabilitation clinics, psychology units and other healthcare properties, according to the report.
The Netherlands
* Hines Global Income Trust Inc. bought the 23-building Fresh Park Venlo logistics park in Venlo from Fresh Park Venlo BV for €117.5 million. The property comprises roughly 2,863,630 square feet of leasable space, and is occupied by upwards of 60 tenants.
* On behalf of its office fund for institutional investors, Bouwinvest Real Estate Investment Management BV purchased a 28,000-square-meter office development in Utrecht from a joint venture between Amsterdam-headquartered APF International and U.S.-based alternatives group Angelo Gordon.
PropertyEU reported the same day that Bouwinvest paid €150 million to buy the property.
Middle East
* United Arab Emirates-based development company Arada disposed of 652 homes collectively worth 545 million dirhams during the Cityscape Global exhibition in Dubai, Arabian Business reported. The company also unveiled plans for a 1.9 million-square-foot hub for its Aljada mega development in the Sharjah emirate, the report added.
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Celestyn Wong contributed to this report.