New addition to London portfolio: DIFA invests around 400 million euros in London
New addition to London portfolio: DIFA invests around 400 million euros in London
Lease for Sainsbury’s head office with 24 years remaining / Total floor space in London rises to 160,000 sq. metres
Celebrated architect Sir Norman Foster created a landmark in Germany in 1999 with his glass dome for the Berlin Reichstag. German investors wishing to acquire a slice of the imposing glass architecture for which the Foster and Partners practice is famous should now look to London: On 19 July Hamburg-based DIFA Deutsche Immobilien Fonds AG acquired 33 Holborn, a Central London office complex designed by Foster in 1998. Part of the Union Investment Group, DIFA is now able to offer investors in its open-ended DIFA-GRUND real estate fund a further London highlight in addition to the Friars Bridge Court office block.
Involving a total of some 400 million euros, 33 Holborn is one of DIFA’s biggest European investments so far outside Germany. As part of its overall portfolio of 170 commercial properties, the specialist investment institution for open-ended real estate funds within the FinanzVerbund der Volksbanken Raiffeisenbanken Group currently holds 25 properties outside Germany, including ten prime sites in and around the City of London. 33 Holborn offers some 30,500 sq. metres of floor space, taking the total for all DIFA properties in the British capital to over 160,000 sq. metres.
The office block at 33 Holborn is situated between the City and the West End on one of the busiest intersections along the western fringe of the City of London. Completed in 2000, the eight-storey property with its spacious, glazed atrium and curved facade constructed from granite and glass - designed to draw the eye into the heart of the building - dominates Holborn Circus and the junction of Holborn and New Fetter Lane. A glass staircase suspended from slender steel struts and extending through six storeys forms the centrepiece of the atrium. At 70 tonnes, it is one of the largest constructions of its kind and the key visual feature of the building.
Midtown: from Daily Mirror to office location
Flooded with light, DIFA’s prestigious new acquisition is situated in a location which was originally a centre of the publishing industry: 33 Holborn was erected on the foundations of the Daily Mirror’s printing works, built in 1956, which relocated to Docklands in 1999 due to lack of space. In the meantime numerous large, new office developments have transformed the district’s image. Over the past five years, this area – dubbed Midtown - has experienced a considerable upturn and today ranks as a high-quality office location. In terms of user profile, it is regarded as part of the City of London. “The purchase of 33 Holborn allows DIFA to offer the type of property in a prime, central location with flexible, open-plan spaces that is most in demand by tenants in London,” says Dr. Reinhard Kutscher, the DIFA board member responsible for investment outside Germany. Floor space is maximised by the depth of the property and a design which largely avoids internal supports. This allows a high user density at 33 Holborn, with space for almost 2,300 workers available in an open-plan environment that is typical of office life in London.
Top address for blue-chip tenant
DIFA is taking over the property at a time when it is already fully let. Sainsbury’s, Britain’s oldest retail grocery chain, which currently employs more than 140,000 people, recently transferred its headquarters from south of the Thames to Midtown, creating a new head office at 33 Holborn that reflects the transparency and openness of the company’s new corporate identity. As well as office space (24,000 sq. metres), Sainsbury’s operates one of its own supermarkets from two retail units on the ground floor, comprising 6,000 sq. metres. The Sainsbury’s lease on 33 Holborn still has 24 years left to run.
Press contact
DIFA Deutsche Immobilien Fonds AG
PR/Communication
Fabian Hellbusch
Caffamacherreihe 8, 20355 Hamburg, Germany
Tel: +49 40 3491 9160, Fax: +49 40 3491 9190, eMail: fabian.hellbusch@difa.de
