This Week's Europe Deal Sheet

McDonald’s opened a fancy McCafé in Paris. The new eatery is modeled after a coffee shop with a pared down, sleek interior and a black exterior with an M logo on the outside. And the differences aren’t just in the design. 

McDonald’s usual burgers and fries are nowhere to be seen.  The fare at the new café includes soups, bagels, desserts, pastries, yogurt and sandwiches.

Austria

The Sheraton Salzburg Hotel reopened its doors after an $11M renovation under the new name Sheraton Grand Salzburg. The 166-key hotel has 29 new guestrooms and suites with tech-enhanced furnishings. Sheraton Grand Salzburg also features six Sky Suites and a Penthouse Suite with city and mountain views.

Belgium 

Pandox AB acquired Hilton Grand Place Brussels for €55M. The sale of the 224-room hotel is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2016.  The new owners plan to invest €3M in room upgrades during 2017-2018.

Germany

Marriott opened its newest Moxy Hotel in Berlin. The 210-room hotel features art (like the above) and installations, including a lift inspired by a photo booth where guests are encouraged to take selfies.

***

A fund managed by Tristan Capital Partners will invest €40M to buy a 348k SF logistics warehouse in Hamburg from Schneider Versand GmbH in a sale-leaseback transaction.

***

Tishman Speyer acquired the Pressehaus am Alexanderplatz office building in Berlin from media group Bertelsmann. The 296k SF property has been listed under a heritage preservation order since 2015. Following the departure of the current tenant in mid-2017, Tishman Speyer will extensively refurbish the property.

***

AXA Investment Managers snapped up a retail and hotel development in the city centre of Leipzig from Centrum group. The asset, which completed construction in August 2016, comprises 154k SF of retail across five storeys, with Primark already secured as the anchor tenant. It also includes an integrated 100-room, three-storey hotel, which will be managed by the German hotel operator GS Star, under the name Arthotel ANA Symphonie.

UK

Richardson’s Capital and Cordwell Property Group sold 212-223 Broad St in Birmingham, a site that is proposed to become a £145M PRS scheme with 450 residential units. It will be Birmingham’s largest multifamily development to date. CBRE advised Richardson’s Capital.

***

Europa Fund IV and Addington Capital acquired Velocity Village for almost £37M in Sheffield. Cushman & Wakefield acted for the vendor. The residential-led property comprises five buildings surrounding landscaped courtyards with 444 residential units and 38k SF of commercial accommodation.

Italy

Rocco Forte Hotels will open a second location in Rome. The group will operate the city’s Hotel De La Ville once it reopens at the end of 2018, following a restructuring and refurbishment which will see the room count reduced from 192 to 105 rooms.

Spain

ActivumSG Capital Management Ltd., the European real estate turnaround specialist, will spend €82M to acquire and develop a 2.2-acre site at Alcal de Henares. The land has planning consent in place and the fund is aiming to construct a complex of 450 apartments on it, with underground parking and amenities including a communal swimming pool.

Norway

Deka Immobilien GmbH acquired an office building in the central business district of Oslo. The property was sold by Norwegian Property for around €55M, and will be added to the open-ended real estate fund Deka-ImmobilienEuropa.

France

Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts marked a milestone as its first-ever hotel and celebrated flagship in Paris completed its multimillion-euro renovation. Le Méridien Etoile now boasts reimagined guestrooms, suites and the transformation of the hotel’s public spaces.

***

Tikehau IM acquired a logistics park outside Paris from Compagnie du Parc de Bercy. The asset has a gross lettable area of 312k SF and is near Porte de Bercy in Charenton-le-Pont. Tenants include UPS, Geodis Calberson and Newrest.

Finland

Barings Real Estate Advisers acquired the office and retail building K25 in Helsinki, acting on behalf of a German professional pension fund. The building has a lettable area of around 51k SF including 39k SF of offices, some 10k SF of retail accommodation and around 3k SF of conference and filing areas. The vendor is an institutional investor, advised by the Finnish agency firm MREC Oy. The total investment was about €34M.