European Living Fund enters German market with multifamily acquisition in Hamburg

Savills Investment Management (“Savills IM”), the international real estate manager, has completed its fourth acquisition for its European Living Fund (“the Fund”), purchasing a fully-let multifamily scheme in Hamburg from PATRIZIA SE.

Adding to the group’s €26.2bn in assets under management, Savills IM has acquired a 118-unit rental scheme in the Tonndorf-Wandsbek quarter of Hamburg – marking the Fund’s maiden deal in Germany as it expands its pan-European capital deployment strategy.

Combining residential and commercial uses across four floors, the 7,000 sqm asset – constructed in 2011 – is sustainably connected to a range of local amenities in Tonndorf, including a local shopping centre, parade and publicly accessible green space. Hamburg city centre is also accessible to residents through a range of  public transport methods, reflecting the global asset manager’s preference for well-connected, resilient assets benefitting from broader demand.

Launched in 2023, the Savills IM flagship European Living Fund is a core open-ended vehicle that invests in residential-rental assets producing long-term, resilient income – and with strong sustainability credentials. It targets modern, attainably priced assets in the multi-family, purpose-built student-accommodation, and senior housing sub-sectors in Europe’s leading economies. The Fund now has assets in Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Germany.

The Living sector is one of four strategy pillars for Savills IM, with Debt, Natural Capital and Logistics being the others. It manages a total of €2.9bn and c.9,000 units in the Living sectors, with other funds and SMAs in the UK, Europe and Japan investing in single-family housing, purpose-built student accommodation, affordable and senior living.

Patrick Au Yeung, Senior Fund Director for Savills IM’s European Living Fund, said:

“The fund is uniquely positioned to capture the market opportunity in European Living, owing to our wide but localised deal-sourcing network, physical pan-European presence, and experienced team of sector-specialists. This provides us with the infrastructure to accelerate deal flow by accessing market opportunities that have been significantly repriced but benefit from highly supportive structural fundamentals. We have assembled a portfolio of high-quality, future-proof assets located across core European economies, providing our investors with immediate, long-term, and inflation-hedging income in a sector where capital growth prospects are apparent.”

Tim Ulrich, Head of Transaction Management, Germany at Savills IM, adds:

‘With the purchase in the east of Hamburg, we were able to secure another attractive property for our European residential fund. Hamburg is characterised by strong demand for residential space combined with limited supply. We continue to look for suitable living properties in German and European locations with positive economic and demographic trends and high sustainability standards.’

Savills IM was advised by CT Legal (legal), PwC (tax), CBRE (technical) and BNP Paribas Real Estate (commercial).

JLL advised PATRIZIA SE and brokered the transaction.