Vienna's Millennium Tower reported to be back on the market

Barely a year after changing hands in what was Austria's biggest real estate deal of the year in 2014, the Millenium Tower in the Millenium City urban quarter in Vienna's Brigittenau is back on the market, according to market reports from the Austrian capital.

A joint venture of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI) and Austrian retail specialist CC Real is said to have put the Millennium tower complex back on the market.

The JV had paid €320m for the office building last year, a price considered at the time a bargain, as the seller – a fund managed by Hamburg-based investment manager MPC Capital - had bought the complex from previous owner George Stumpf in 2003 for €360m.

The low price paid by the JV last year was said to be because the fund had reached its maturity and wanted a quick exit. Given the fall in yields in Vienna's office market since then, the owners could be looking to take a quick and sizeable profit on their investment.

Millennium Tower opened in 1999 and is Austria's second-tallest office building at 202 metres, with 40,000 sqm of office space. Millennium City, the adjacent entertainment and shopping centre, was built in 2003 and offers more than 100 shops and a state-of-the-art entertainment section which together represent 53,000 sqm.

The waterfront complex is a significant shopping and entertainment destination for inhabitants and toursts in the city, being promoted as a 'town-within-a-town', and has attracted more than 210m visitors over the last fifteen years.