As a first property for the private placement fund of an associated Dutch family office already publicized in June, DERECO of Cologne has acquired City Gate, the city centre property in the Siegburg pedestrian zone. The seller was a project company in the INTERBODEN group, namely Innovative Gewerbewelten GmbH & Co. KG from Ratingen. The property, which has been certified as a green building, is expected to be completed in the spring of 2013. On a plot measuring approx. 1,600 m², 17 user-oriented and barrier-free apartments, a modern office and four retail units as well as an underground car park
are being built on a lettable area totalling approx. 4,300 m². The retail areas, which represent a rental share of approx. 80 per cent of the investment, have already been entirely let to the tenants Depot, Deichmann, Tom Tailor and Marc O’Polo. The transaction that was carried out as an asset deal comprises a volume of approx. 15 million euros. The buyer was legally advised by the law firm of Taylor Wessing, Berlin. Technical inspection was carried out by Drees & Sommer, Düsseldorf.

The law firm of BGP Dr. Breidenbach & Partner, Wuppertal provided the seller with legal advice.

An investment volume of approx. 65 to 70 million euros is aimed at for the property fund, which is structured as a blind pool. Currently, DERECO is continuing to concentrate on purchasing new, fully let properties (new building projects as a forward deal or two- to three-year-old existing properties) with a high quality standard in the Top 10 cities of the Federal Republic of Germany. Smaller, more attractive cities with a high buying power, centrally situated in the immediate vicinity of the Top 10 cities are also being taken into consideration. Preference is given exclusively to sites in established, inner-city 1A and 1B locations that are convincing due to their individual micro-location.

For property funds, DERECO only takes investment properties into consideration that, with a volume of between ten and a maximum of 25 million euros in each case and utilisation as a retail or residential object or office, contribute towards compiling a balanced portfolio. Besides purely single-occupation properties, investments with a mixed use and average lease periods of more than five years can also be convincing. Single-tenant investments are not foreseen as part of this investment strategy. DERECO is currently seriously looking into the acquisition of two further investments. The second purchase is planned for October or November 2012.