PRESS RELEASE

ASG Fund sells prime office block in central Berlin to Quantum after successful lease-up strategy

20th July 2016

Jersey (UK), July 20th, 2016 – ASG’s Fund II, managed by ActivumSG Capital Management, the turnaround specialist focused on European real estate investments, has sold the Chausseehof Building in central Berlin after a leasing program that took the 8.200 sqm. office block to full occupation. The financial terms of the transaction, which completes the disposal of the mixed-use complex acquired by the fund five years ago, are not being disclosed.

 

The fund sold the building at the corner of Chausseestrasse and Invalidenstrasse to Quantum Immobilien Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH. It follows separate sales by the fund of the hotel in the Chausseehof complex and the residential block at the rear of the building’s inner courtyard.

 

Saul Goldstein, Founder and Managing Partner of ASG, said: “Back in 2011, we were one of the few buyers able to transact swiftly and to handle the complexities of this property. A third of the office space was vacant when we acquired it and this we eliminated through our leasing efforts, to double the operating income. We have exceeded our business plan by far — thanks to strong tenant and investor demand for well-located buildings like this, which stands in a central location in Berlin and enjoys excellent public transportation links.”

 

The historic Chausseehof Building, is located moments from the Natural History Museum subway station, close to Berlin’s Nordbahnhof railway station, and is well-served by the city’s tram and bus network. The largest tenant in the office block, occupying more than half the space, is the Leibniz Association of nonuniversity research institutes.

 

ASG’s Fund II raised €248.5 million of equity by its final close in 2011. To date, the fund has sold eight of its dozen assets. Its remaining investments are the Joli Coeur and Metropol Park residential developments in Berlin; a retailanchored property that integrates the mainline railway station in Augsburg, a town 70 km Northwest of Munich; and an office building in Mannheim, Southwest Germany.

 

Advising the Fund were: Cushman&Wakefield LLP, Greenberg Traurig LLP and Activum SG Advisory GmbH.