Fokus Süddeutschland Fonds purchases TWO in Wiesbaden

Building with LEED Certification in Gold for sustainability - Fund acquires a total of 6 properties at 5 locations in a single year

Frankfurt, 13.08.2019 – The KanAm Grund Group has purchased TWO (The Wiesbaden Office), an office building in Wiesbaden for the institutional Fokus Süddeutschland Fonds. TWO, which was completed in 2018 and distinguished with LEED Certification in Gold for sustainability, has an H-shaped footprint, a rentable area of approximately 16,350 m² and 202 outdoor and 143 underground parking lots. With a long-term lease for about 75 percent of the building area, the key tenant is the engineering company Julius Berger International GmbH. In addition to the three top real estate locations in Southern Germany (Munich, Stuttgart and Frankfurt), acquisition of TWO in Wiesbaden means that the Fokus Süddeutschland fund has also invested in all three capitals of the Southern German federal states. Additional diversification of the portfolio is achieved through the wide variety of usage types, including office, retail and industrial premises. The Fokus Süddeutschland Fonds concentrates on Germany’s strongest economic regions in the south and, with Wiesbaden, has acquired a total of 6 properties at 5 locations within a single year.

TWO is situated in the southeast of Wiesbaden (capital of the federal state of Hesse) at Abraham-Lincoln-Strasse 44, not far from Abraham Lincoln Park where the headquarters of the R+V Versicherung insurance company are located. Abraham-Lincoln-Strasse runs parallel to Bundesstrasse 54, over which the Autobahn 66 highway can be reached in a matter of minutes. The rentable area is divided into 14,125 m² of office space and a further 2,229 m² that, among other facilities, contain a lobby, a fitness area, a canteen and a conference room. TWO is a multi-tenant property currently leased almost 100% to five different parties. Julius Berger International has sublet parts of its premises to two further tenants. Another tenant is the Ingenieurkammer Hessen (Hesse Chamber of Engineers), a self-regulatory organization subject to state supervision with its headquarters in Wiesbaden. The building also hosts a regional office of GEMA (Gesellschaft für musikalische Aufführungs- und mechanische Vervielfältigungsrechte), the society for musical performing and mechanical reproduction rights. With around two million members (over 70,000 in Germany), the society is one of the world’s largest associations for authors of musical works. It has been agreed to keep the sales price confidential. The transaction was brokered by JLL.

TWO has been awarded LEED Certification in Gold. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is an American model and an internationally recognized certification system. For over 10 years, this system has set standards around the world for the development and planning of so-called green buildings, structures that are extremely efficient from an ecological point of view. Sustainability is one of the most important corporate goals of the KanAm Grund Group.

Fund concept in Southern Germany
About 36 percent of the German population lives in the southern states of Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg and Hesse, and the population projection for these regions is also predominantly positive. These three states are the regions with the highest income levels and lowest unemployment figures in Germany. Southern Germany is also home to three of the top real estate locations, with Munich, Frankfurt and Stuttgart all cities of international significance. These locations accounted for about 44 percent of the office space portfolio and around 61 percent of the investment volume of the so-called BIG 7 last year. Added to this, the Rhine-Main area, the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, Nuremberg and Munich are home to robust real estate locations of both national and regional importance. In the case of retail, seven of the ten most significant locations are in Southern Germany, including Mannheim, Nuremberg and Freiburg.

Matching and scoring
The fund management conducts a qualitative and quantitative analysis for the selection of suitable properties in this target region, with 16 defined target markets subject to continuous examination on the basis of 39 indicators. Results obtained relating to population structure, economic power, location characteristics and usage-specific KPIs are interpreted by rating analysts. Subsequent to this, quantitative and qualitative findings are included in overall scoring, enabling classification of potential acquisitions according to the categories “recommended”, “opportunity” or “not recommended” when matching location and usage type (office, retail, hotel or residential) and providing the fund management with a sound, transparent basis for making decisions.

About the KanAm Grund Group
The KanAm Grund Group has handled a transaction volume of over 33 billion US dollars since it was established in October 2000. The owner-managed company focuses on the individual needs of German and international investors, with the geographical emphasis being in Europe and the United States. The company is now organized into three business divisions under the umbrella of the KanAm Grund Group: KanAm Grund Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft (an open-end real estate fund), KanAm Grund Institutional Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft (a special real estate fund) and KanAm Grund REAM (international investment & asset management advisory). Since its strategic repositioning, the KanAm Grund Group, as an international real estate enterprise, provides real estate investment and asset management services to German private investors, institutional investors and international investors alike, irrespective of the investment vehicles involved.