Germany/Austria: Greystar has started a “develop-to-core” venture with an unknown investor partner to expand its presence in Austria and Germany.
The partnership between Greystar and the unknown global institutional investor will focus on creating purpose-built and designed multi-family housing.
The projects are expected to be delivered on a forward fund, forward purchase, or ground-up development basis. The partnership hopes to create a portfolio with a gross development value of €1 billion.
Mark Allnutt, senior managing director – Europe at Greystar, said: “The significant supply and demand imbalance that exists across Europe is driven by secular declines in new housing deliveries and shifting preferences towards rental as people delay house purchases for longer. This venture aligns with our strategy in our other European markets to deliver purpose-built rental housing in city hubs with stable employment and long term persistent rental demand, such as London, Amsterdam and Paris.”
The new multifamily developments will be located in cities across Germany and Austria, greatly increasing Greystar’s presence in the region. The projects will develop more than 100 units in cities such as: Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Munich and Vienna.
The company has a limited existing presence in these cities, as Greystar currently operates the 182-unit LY30 in Frankfurt. Additionally, Greystar is currently on site in Vienna at its DC Tower III project, a building designed for students, young professionals, and others who may need rental housing.
Head of Germany and Austria at Greystar, Thomas Wünsche, said: “There is a lack of purpose-built rental housing and institutional quality managed assets in Germany and Austria. We have an early mover advantage as one of the first developers of modern flexible housing solution in these markets. We know that people are renting for longer and the pandemic has accelerated trends towards working from home, so we are confident our highly amenitised, professionally managed product will prove popular as we expand across our target cities.”
