German insurer HanseMerkur buys Böblinger shopping centre

Another German insurance company stretching its limbs in the real estate market is HanseMerkur, which recently closed its largest ever real estate deal by buying the Mercaden shopping centre in the town of Böblingen, near Stuttgart. The centre was only opened last year by project developer hkm Management AG in a joint venture with Pramerica Real Estate Investors.

The shopping center was built on the site of the form central bus station in Böblingen close to the main train station, and the downtown pedestrian zone. It houses around 100 shops on 24,400 sqm of sales area; anchor tenants are Edeka, H&M, K&L Ruppert and Müller Drogeriemarkt. Hkm Management will remain the centre's property manager.

According to Lutz Wiemer, chairman of HanseMerkur Grundvermögen AG, "Among Germany's over 400 administrative and urban district councils, Böblingen has traditionally been viewed as being among the top 10 in terms of its commitment to sustainability issues. Local economic strength and purchasing power, combined with this modern and functional retail centre concept, have proven very persuasive."

The centre will be allocated to one of HanseMerkur's open-ended funds. The company was unenthusiastic about discussing the price, other than to say it was "the biggest ever transaction for the HanseMerkur Insurance Group."

In a further recent transaction, HanseMerkur also bought 289 micro-apartments in Heidelberg from Cologne's Kreer Group, for a price of €25m. The apartments, which are still under construction, are right beside the main station, and 50% of them have been leased in advance for 15 years to a local educational establishment.