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Allianz will invest in Italy
12 April, Il Sole 24 Ore
The big insurance groups are back investing in the Italian real estate market, after a period of absence.
This is the case of Allianz Real Estate. After the experience with Citylife, where the company exited from the shareholders and acquired what is now called the Allianz Tower, designed by Arata Isozaki and Andrea Maffei, Allianz is now ready to evaluate other investment opportunities in Italy.
“Our focus is still on core and added value properties in the main cities of the world”, stresses Alex Gebauer, head of Western Europe for Allianz Real Estate.
Today, the group holds a real estate portfolio valued 56 billion euro, having grown from the 16 billion in 2008. Allianz has current assets under management in Italy for 3 billion euro, including direct properties and joint ventures.
“Our strategy in Italy is based on three main paths – explains Donato Saponara, head of the real estate division of Allianz Italia -. We’re looking for core and added value products offices in Milan, as well as offices in Rome”.
Milan remains the main target, but also the capital has the potential to offer quality properties. Allianz is also evaluating shopping centres in leading positions in Milan and Rome, “but we look with interest also at alternative asset classes such as student housing. We can consider the possibility to enter the market”, adds Saponara.
The portfolio of the groups currently includes value added relocations of old offices in Via del Corso in Rome and in Corso Italian in Milan. Besides the Allianz Tower in Citylife, there are also prime offices in Via Turati and in Via Santa Sofia in Milan, the shopping centre Fiumara in Genoa, a building in Piazza della Repubblica in Trieste recently converted into a Hilton hotel, a shopping centre and Palazzo Marignoli in Rome.
The main exposures at a European level are in Germany and France. “Our strategy of targeting real estate assets that have the protentional to be requalified is valid also for the rest f Europe – says Alex Gebauer. There is still space in Germany to invest in the main cities, which are more than in the other countries where big cities are generally the capital and a few more”. There is plenty of opportunities to build in Germany, as we can see in Frankfurt. Among the properties of the European portfolio, there are the buildings at number 16 and 18 of Avenue George V and the Allianz Tower in Paris. There is the Dundrum Town Centre in Ireland, owned by a joint venture with the British Hammerson. The Skyline Plaza and the Skyper skyscraper in Frankfurt, this latter bought in 2013 for 300 million euro from Usb Real Estate. There are also significant properties in Hamburg with the Europa Passage (a shopping centre that was opened ten years ago and currently under renovation to implement an entire floor dedicated to food), and Haus Domplatz, plus Vienna, Cologne and Nice.
Returning to Italy, Milan is the only city able to compete internationally. There are other minor cities that have a good growth potential, like Turin. Rome has good chances to attract international investors, as it’s happening right now with the hospitality segment. The outlook for the future is of an additional reduction of returns for properties in Italy.
“Concerning shopping centres – continues Saponara – we’re evaluating bot already existing facilities and new developments, as we believe there is still space for big shopping centres”.
Source: Il Sole 24 Ore
Translator: Cristina Ambrosi