UK’s Benson Elliot buys Frankfurt high-rise for redevelopment

Benson Elliot, the UK-based private equity real estate fund manager, has bought the Turmcenter, Eschersheimer Landstrasse 14, in Frankfurt’s central business district from Landesbank Baden-Württemberg. The 23-storey office tower has been unoccupied since Ernst & Young vacated the building and refurbishment plans subsequently stalled. The acquisition includes an adjacent mixed-use complex featuring additional office space, a long-let supermarket and over 400 car parking spaces.

The shell property has been somewhat of an eyesore in Frankfurt after a chequered past, which saw the building redeveloped in 1971 and re-started in 2008 before stalling. Benson Elliot has recently been associated with several urban regeneration projects in the UK, and the redevelopment of the potentially prestigious Turmcenter would sit comfortably with the company’s other recent projects.

Once the deal is completed Benson Elliot plans to comprehensively re-develop the tower to deliver over 15,000 square metres of efficient, state-of-the-art, environmentally sustainable office space. The property will tap into the growing demand for first class office space from small and medium-sized tenants in central Frankfurt.

Benson Elliot has engaged dk real estate, with whom Benson Elliot’s senior team worked a decade ago on the re-development of Munich’s famed Maximilianhöfe, to manage the re-design and re-construction of the tower.

According to Joseph de Leo, one of the three senior partners at Benson Elliot (along with Marc Mogull and Trish Barrigan), “This is going to be an exciting project for Benson Elliot. With a smaller, but highly efficient floor plate, and a new façade design featuring floor-to-ceiling glazing, the new Turmcenter will be ideally equipped to meet the needs of mid-market companies looking for prestigious office space in the centre of Frankfurt.”