UNIQA Real Estate Management GmbH (UNIQA Real Estate) is launching the UQA Real Estate Fund, a closed-end real estate fund for institutional investors. The fund invests in high-quality core and core-plus office properties in Europe. The geographical focus is on Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic. UNIQA Real Estate is thus concretising the opening of its real estate investment and management platform, which was previously used by the UNIQA Group, to external investors.
The fund pursues a conservative investment strategy with a focus on high-quality office properties in central urban locations. The focus is on properties in liquid markets with marketable transaction sizes. Sustainability aspects and certifications are an integral part of the investment criteria. Value appreciation potential is to be realised in particular through active asset management and sustainable rental growth in prime locations.
Market correction for top office properties in Vienna, Warsaw and Prague completed
"With the UQA Real Estate Fund, we are making our many years of real estate expertise accessible to external investors in a concrete product for the first time. After the market correction of recent years, we see interesting entry opportunities again, especially in high-quality office properties in central locations in Austria, Poland and the Czech Republic. This is because initial yields in these markets have risen by up to 250 basis points compared to the price peak. Modern, flexible and prime locations in major cities continue to be in high demand. At the same time, virtually no new office space is coming onto the market in Vienna, Warsaw and Prague. Both factors are favouring sustainable rent growth. Poland and the Czech Republic are also benefiting from dynamic economic development. Overall, this results in an excellent starting position for investments," says Thomas Erdmann, Managing Director of UNIQA Real Estate Management GmbH.
The planned fund volume is EUR 600 million, of which EUR 300 million is to be raised as equity. The financing ratio can be up to 50 percent loan-to-value. The minimum subscription amount is EUR ten million per investor. The fund is designed for a term of ten years with extension options. The UQA Real Estate Fund is structured as a Luxembourg SCSp in cooperation with an external AIFM and is designed as a fund in accordance with Article 8 of the Disclosure Regulation. The target group is institutional investors and large family offices from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Nordic countries and Central and Eastern Europe.
UNIQA Real Estate brings its broad experience in the core markets of Austria and Central and Eastern Europe as well as its expertise along the entire real estate life cycle to the fund. UNIQA Real Estate has been responsible for the UNIQA Group's real estate management for 50 years. The platform covers essential parts of the real estate value chain in-house. Through active asset and portfolio management, the company accompanies real estate throughout its entire life cycle. This strategic and operational management expertise also forms the basis of the new third-party business.
The managed real estate portfolio comprises around 200 properties with a volume of around three billion euros and a lettable area of around one million square metres.
