CLS Holdings PLC to buy £34mln office building in Germany

PLC () announced that it has exchanged contracts to acquire ‘The Brix’ office building in Essen, Germany for €38mln (£34mln).

The property is a factory-style office building located in the central business district of Essen, the real estate investor said.

The offices are split across five interconnected buildings ranging from three to five floors, comprising a total of 234,115 square feet of lettable space, with two internal courtyards as well as 89 parking spaces on the estate and a further 300 nearby.

The Brix is opposite the Bismarckplatz underground station and an eight-minute walk from the central station in the South Quarter of Essen next to the new developments, ‘Literature Quarter’ and the regeneration of the former headquarters.

The building, which is under rented at below €10 per square metre per month, has a contracted rent of €1.72mln and the purchase price represents a net initial yield of 4.2%.

The building is 72% let to three tenants, anchored by tech firm Siemens which occupies the majority of the space.

CLS said the unlet space provides an opportunity to refurbish and relet the vacancy to capture market rents, and once fully let the asset will have an estimated yield above 6%.

The FTSE 250 group also announced the sale of two smaller properties in the UK, Quest House, Hounslow and Atholl House, Aberdeen, for a combined total of £5.9mln which is 9.3% ahead of the June 2020 valuation.

“The past year has been a challenging period but CLS has been able to acquire successfully a range of assets which provide opportunities from active asset management while bolstering the income of the portfolio,” said Fredrik Widlund, chief executive, in a release.

“In 2020, we acquired over £200mln of properties while disposing of £70mln, taking advantage of opportunities presented by the current market dislocation.”