Madison Int'l Realty buys Christie portfolio with Redos

New York investment company Madison International Realty has bought the Christie portfolio consisting of four large eastern German retail properties for an unnamed sum from previous owners Morgan Stanley Real Estate and the Hamburg-based asset manager Redos Real Estate. Redos is remaining a minority owner of the assets, and has even increased its equity stake in the 214,000 sqm portfolio.

The portfolio includes the Kaufpark Eiche in Ahrensfelde and the Havel Park in Dallgow-Döberitz (both near Berlin), the Kaufpark Dresden and the Wust Shopping Centre in Brandenburg. The assets are 90% leased long-term, with retailer Kaufland the anchor tenant in all four centres with at least 15,000 sqm in each centre. Other key tenants include drugstore Müller, Media Markt, Decathlon, C&A and H&M. The centres all have dominance in their localities.

Redos bought the portfolio with Morgan Stanley in 2014 and has been handling the asset management. Münster-based project developer HLG has a refurbishment mandate to upgrade the centres, with the 67,000 sqm Eiche centre currently undergoing a €40m revitalisation. HLG, which was responsible for recent upgrades at Berlin shopping centres A10 and Tempelhofer Hafen, will continue to upgrade the other centres under the new ownership structure.

According to Matthias Cordier, director of Madison in Frankfurt, “The portfolio fits Madison’s strategy of buying established prime assets with good in-place cash flow, as well as embedded value-enhancement opportunities that will be driven by investments in targeted, on-site initiatives that optimise the tenancy in existing high-volume centres.”