“Union Investment Real Estate AG has acquired the Mercado shopping centre in Hamburg for its real estate investment fund UniImmo: Deutschland from a Pirelli & C. Real Estate SpA and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing joint venture company. With a sale price of 164 million Euro the companies have thus realised the largest single deal in Germany this year. “The acquisition of ‘Mer-cado’ means a further strengthening of our portfolio of centrally located shop-ping centres that, with very high degrees of occupation and crisis-proof yields, have developed into the stable anchors of our real estate investment fund,” says Dr. Frank Billand, member of the executive board of Union Investment Real Estate AG. The emphasis in UniImmo: Deutschland investment is on German conurbations and European cities with sustainable economic devel-opment potential. Office buildings and retail properties form the core. Hotels and business parks serve as investment diversification.
Mercado’s centre management, the leasing, the property management and the facility management will also remain in the hands of Pirelli & C. Real Estate Deutschland GmbH in future. “With Union Investment we have gained an in-ternationally active company with many years of real estate expertise as pur-
chaser,” says Paolo Bottelli, Direttore Generale of Pirelli & C. Real Estate SpA. “Considering the current situation on the European real estate market, Union Investment Real Estate AG’s decision speaks clearly in favour of Merca-do’s quality and profitability.” Pirelli & C. Real Estate is active nationwide with retail projects such as Geschäftshaus Ottensen, Wandsbek Quarree, the Bahn-hof Altona Shopping Centre in Hamburg, theGeschäftshaus Große Straße in Osnabrück as well as Lago in Constance, where they are involved in the sectors of project development, asset management and property management, to-gether with shopping centre management.
The Mercado was built as district centre in 1995 and 2003 in two construction phases and has since then been continually developed by Pirelli RE. Through this long-term involvement, Pirelli RE has contributed significantly towards the western sector of Hamburg becoming nowadays one of Hamburg’s most attractive shopping destinations. Mercado is located in the central pedestrian area of Hamburg’s Altona-Ottensen quarter adjacent to Altona station and has four floors with a total retail area of 24,000 square metres. With its attractive mix of tenants, the shopping centre is seen as the focal point for the up-and-coming Altona-Ottensen quarter. There are more than 90 retail outlets including well-known chains such as H&M, C&A, Strauss Innovation, Douglas, Görtz, New Yorker, Edeka, Intersport Voswinkel, Buchhaus Weiland and MediMax who are currently Mercado tenants and attract between 30.000 and 35.000 visitors daily, with 55.000 at peak periods.
The heart of Mercado is the 900 square meter Market area on the ground floor with over 30 stalls that offer international specialities and everyday commodities. The shopping centre also houses service centre facilities such as a public health insurance office, a doctors’ surgery, a kindergarten, and
venue for senior citizens as well as Hamburg’s public library, occupying 1,200 square metres on the second floor. Mercado is rounded off with 75 apartments. In addition, 420 parking spaces are available for customers” (CS della Società).
