Germany: Investor, developer and operator Round Hill Capital has acquired 541 BTR units across seven assets in Greater Berlin for €89 million.
The acquisitions were made in three transactions on behalf of the Round Hill Capital European Residential Income Fund II (ERIF II). The fund closed in May 2023 with around €440 million in equity commitments.
The first transaction involved the purchase of 497 residential units across five assets from TAG Immobilien AG, a listed German residential investment company. The properties are located in Hennigsdorf, Königs Wusterhausen, Ludwigsfelde, Stahnsdorf and Potsdam. A further 44 units in Greater Berlin have been acquired in off market transactions from two distinct local market sellers.
These comprised a further property in Königs Wusterhausen, located near the Tesla Gigafactory at Grünheide and Berlin’s new BER airport, and in Strausberg, to the east of Berlin.
All seven assets are in “strong well-connected locations in the Berlin suburbs, where they benefit from the German capital’s highly supportive and low supply market dynamics and economic development but are free of the most robust rent cap regulations enforced in the city centre”.
The new-build assets have an energy efficiency rating of A. The others range from B to C.
Round Hill Capital is planning a targeted capex investment programme to maintain and further upgrade these ratings as part of its commitment to building a portfolio of sustainable assets representing attractive value to investors and residents alike.
Michael Bickford, CEO of Round Hill Capital, said: “These acquisitions build further momentum in our goal of assembling a high-quality portfolio of residential for rent properties in supply constrained markets across Europe on behalf of ERIF II. The fund still has significant dry powder to deploy into similar assets with the right fundamentals, targeting core/core plus returns from lower risk profile assets, particularly as they become available in the current uncertain market conditions. Germany has always been an attractive market and one which we have been active participants for nearly two decades across numerous strategies on behalf of different clients. We established ERIF II to invest for the long term. To date we have amassed a high-quality portfolio of multifamily assets across Europe performing above benchmark, to which we add our recent acquisitions in Greater Berlin.”
