DIFA-GRUND invests in Seattle for second time
DIFA-GRUND invests in Seattle for second time
Adobe Systems as main tenant / Location benefiting from growth in IT and biotechnology
Hamburg, 20 December 2004 – After achieving multi-million profits from selling a property in Rosslyn/Virginia, DIFA-GRUND (ISIN DE0009805515) is once again making a substantial investment in the US: the DIFA Deutsche Immobilien Fonds AG open-ended real estate fund has acquired the Waterfront and Plaza office buildings in Seattle for around 53 million euros. Built in 1998 and prominently situated on Lake Union in the Fremont area of the city, the fully let complex is chiefly used by Adobe Systems Inc. This blue-chip developer of the PostScript data format and worldwide leading provider of image processing software operates its main data centre out of the property. The lease with Adobe Systems runs until 2010.
“As a technology market, Seattle has achieved impressive occupational growth,” says DIFA board member Dr. Reinhard Kutscher. “The growth rates forecast for the IT and biotechnology industries mean above-average rent increases can be expected in the Fremont district in future, given its proximity to the University of Washington.”
The campus-style property offers some 27,000 sq m of office space across two separate buildings and features 633 underground car parking spaces, a restaurant and a Starbucks coffee shop. Located around three miles north of downtown Seattle, the Adobe site enjoys unspoilt views of Lake Union. DIFA-GRUND has owned property in the West Coast city since 2003 in the shape of the almost wholly let 20-storey Millennium Tower. Expansion on the western seaboard of North America is an important part of DIFA’s investment policy. Strategic support for DIFA investments in the states of Washington and California is provided by the Metzler North America Corporation, headquartered in Seattle.
DIFA-GRUND was one of the first German open-ended real estate funds to get involved in the US market over ten years ago. The fund’s most notable investments over the past fiscal year include the acquisition of the 52-floor Figuera@Wilshire office tower in downtown Los Angeles and the New York skyscraper at 140 Broadway. While retaining its investment focus on Europe, the proportion of ex-Europe real estate will gradually be raised from the present level of approximately 14% to 25%. In 2004, the fund has invested some 1 billion euros in office and retail properties, with Brussels, Mons, Madrid, Paris, Los Angeles, New York and Seattle accounting for around 75% of that figure.
Press contact
DIFA Deutsche Immobilien Fonds AG
Marketing Communication
Fabian Hellbusch
Caffamacherreihe 8
20355 Hamburg
Germany
Tel: +49 40 3491 9160,
Fax: +49 40 3491 9190
E-mail: fabian.hellbusch@difa.de
