Catella residential fund buys Austrian and Dutch assets
Berlin-based Catella Residential Investment Management has paid €90 million for two apartment developments in Austrian capital Vienna and another at Nieuwegein near Utrecht in the Netherlands.
The acquisitions were made on behalf of the Catella European Residential Fund III (CER III) which focuses on affordable housing and undersupplied sub-segments in the residential markets.
The fund, which raised €180 million of additional equity during the summer, is part of the Catella Residential investment platform, which has €4.4 billion of AUM and claims to be the largest cross-border investor in the residential property sector in Europe.
Catella said European residential real estate has shown its resilience relative to other investment property sectors during the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly in Austria.
The firm’s latest Austria residential ‘Market Tracker’ research shows apartment values rose on average by 9.5% in the first three quarters of this year and yield compression has persisted in the multi-family sector across all cities.
Austria confirmed as preferred destination for investors
Catella expects demand for residential real estate assets to remain strong, notably among international investors, whose share of the market has climbed to 45%, confirming Austria’s position as a preferred European investment location, Catella said.
The two properties in Vienna are turnkey developments. One is close to the Floridsdorf train station, has 155 units and was acquired for €40 million. It will be completed in 2022.
The second Vienna property, Klosterneuburg, was bought for about €20 million, has 70 units and will be completed in 2021.
The Dutch development, Park Rijnhuizen (pictured) was acquired for about €30 million and consists of nine office blocks of which CER III has acquired four, which will be transformed into two to four-bedroom apartments.
