A fund managed by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) agreed to buy a building near Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate valued at about $184 million from Commerzbank AG (NYSE: CBK), two people with knowledge of the matter said.
While sovereign debt in Europe remains rocky, property in the region continues to be in demand. The property, at the corner of Unter den Linden and Friedrichstrasse in Berlin’s Mitte district, was built in 1997 and has 47,270 square meters (508,810 square feet) of space. The sale of the Lindencorso building, which has apartments, offices and a Volkswagen AG (VOW) showroom, will probably be completed by the end of September, said the people, who asked not to be identified before the deal is announced.
International firms have boosted their German commercial property assets over the past two years as they seek a safe European investment amid the sovereign debt crisis. Non-German buyers spent 9.3 billion euros on German offices and malls last year, the most since 2008, according to data compiled by Chicago-based brokerage Jones Lang LaSalle Inc.
Whitehall Street Real Estate Funds, managed by Goldman, is buying Lindencorso from a Commerz Real AG closed-end real estate investment fund, the people said. Whitehall already owns the leasehold.
Spokespersons for the firms have declined to comment to date.
