Rreef Pays Hochtief €100M for Unilever Haus

HAMBURG-Deutsche Bank’s alternative investment manager Rreef has acquired the office building Unilever Haus in Hamburg from Hochtief Project Development for its open-ended real estate fund grundbesitz europa. Price, though not released, was estimated at about €100 million.

The property, some 25,000 square meters in size, was completed last June and is fully let to Unilever Deutschland as its headquarters for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It is the largest in the world to feature demand-driven LED lighting, and has a façade encased with a special synthetic membrane to protect the building from cooling.

Concrete core activation, heat recovery and environmentally-riendly construction materials are additional features. Unilever-Haus was named the World’s Best Office Building at the World Architecture Festival Awards last year, and is the first building in operation to receive the preliminary certificate of the HafenCity Environmental Sign in Gold.

“The acquisition of Unilever Haus is trendsetting for numerous reasons,” said Georg Allendorf, head of RREEF Germany. “It indicates that attractive investments indeed exist in Germany; it demonstrates that we are able to continue to buy properties with excellent terms for the funds and therefore for its investors; and – most importantly – it recognises that green buildings represent the future.”

Added Hochtief Chairman Rainer Eichholz: “Core real estate such as the Unilever Haus, with a high level of architectural and structural quality let at excellent conditions for the long term and equipped according to environmental considerations, continue to be popular. We are glad to have found an investor with RREEF who shares our requirements.”