BMO Mannheim retail project biggest development this year

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Investment

BMO Real Estate Partners, the former F&C REIT acquired by Canada’s Bank of Montreal group, has bought an urban development project in Mannheim in Germany. The off-market deal was part of a club deal for one of BMO's Spezialfonds.

The so-called Q6 Q7 development (named for its urban planning designation) was acquired from Leipzig-based project developer Diringer & Scheidel Unternehmensgruppe, for an undisclosed price,. The project volume was thought to be around €300m. It is located along Heidelberger Strasse, one of the main entryways to Mannheim's city centre. The opening of the DGNB silver-certified development is scheduled for 29th September.

Iris Schöberl, managing director at BMO Real Estate Partners Germany, commented: “The new Q 6 Q 7 neighbourhood is not only an exceptional development project for Mannheim and the entire Rhein-Neckar region, it is also currently the largest urban shopping centre project in all of Germany.”

Designed by international architects Blocher Blocher Partners, the ensemble features 60,000 sqm of lettable space within a total area of around 16,000 sqm. As much as 27,000 sqm are dedicated to retail, with another 12,000 sqm for a hotel, in addition to offices and professional space, restaurants and 85 residential units.

In total, the development is creating more than 1,000 new retail, food service und hospitality jobs. Among the anchor tenants are names like Primark, Superdry, Calvin Klein, REWE and dm-drogerie markt, as well as the international Radisson Blu Hotel Mannheim with a 229-room four-star location. The property comes complete with a three-storey underground carpark offering more than 1,376 individual spaces.

Mannheim is a strong regional commercial city with about 300,000 residents, the third largest city in prosperous Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart and Karlsruhe. It has a strong banking, administrative and retail tradition, and boasts around 2.6m commuters throughout the surrounding suburbs.

BMO Real Estate Partners is part of BMO Global Asset Management which in turn is part of BMO Financial Group, founded as the Bank of Montreal in 1817. The German division manages a German portfolio of more than 310 properties worth over €1.9bn, mainly in medium and large cities across the country. Since 2010 the company has launched and manages five Spezialfonds for its institutional partners.