Equity Estate Corporate Services appointed by Merkspace to start Dutch activities

29-5, 2017

The successful co-working & private office concept from Tel Aviv Merkspace will be opening a brand new building in the heart of Amsterdam at the Herengracht 499 on July 1st of 2017. Equity Estate Corporate Services is acting as corporate service provider for Merkspace in setting up their activities in the Netherlands.

With the first global Sports-tech Innovation-centre and a big Asian incubator department, Merkspace focuses on start-ups that want to accelerate and that want to profit from their international network and these opportunities. In the last year Merkspace raised 3.7 million dollars for their start-ups, and made more than 9,000 business connections for the 150 companies they now supply. The close lines with the start-up scene in Tel Aviv will give access to the top of the line speakers, tech innovators, experts and not so less important venture capitalists.

One of the most exciting things is that Merkspace actively looks for business opportunities for their tenants, within their own (international) network. Every month there will be a new unique delegation visiting the office for mentoring, lectures and the investors breakfast. That being said, service-providers, freelancers and small-medium businesses that want to benefit from the opportunities Merkspace offers, are more than welcome. Working spaces already starts at € 250 a month.

Equity Estate Corporate Services is focussing on management services (directorship, domiciliation and administration) to real estate companies and operators. With our in-depth knowledge of the real estate industry and market we add substantial value to your company.

HighBrook Investors and Equity Estate Acquire office building ‘Spectrum’ in Amsterdam

8-5, 2017

In an off-market transaction, Credit Suisse Real Estate Fund International has sold the office building ‘Spectrum’ to the combination consisting of HighBrook Investors and Equity Estate.

Spectrum is located at a prominent location in the Sloterdijk/Teleport area in Amsterdam, located at the at the Gatwickstraat 9-39, visible from the motorway A-10.

The total floor area comprises approximately 7,685 sq.m. LFA office space, spread over 9 floors with 109 parking spaces located in the parking garage and at the outside area. The building is fully rented to DPA.

HighBrook Investors and Equity Estate were advised by Van Gool ♦ Elburg Vastgoedspecialisten during this transaction and legally represented by Loyens & Loeff.

In this transaction Credit Suisse REFI was legally represented by Clifford Chance.

Propco expands portfolio with DIY-store in Beuningen

10-4, 2017

For the expansion of the Propco portfolio, Equity Estate has acquired a DIY-store located at the Claudiuslaan 62, in Beuningen. CBRE Global Investors divested the property, after recently having extended the lease agreement. The building comprises nearly 5,500 m² and offers ample parking facilities on site.

Van Neerbos Bouwmarkten recently signed a substantial extension of their lease agreement to ensure a long-lasting continuation of one of their Gamma franchises at this specific location. Van Neerbos Bouwmarkten is the largest franchise holder of Intergamma, owning/operating more than 150 stores in The Netherlands and Belgium, and is part of the stock listed CRH conglomerate, one of the worldwide market leaders in the field of building materials.

After the acquisition of two industrial/logistic buildings in Dordrecht and Rijnsburg in 2016, this is the third acquisition for Propco. The intention is to further expand the portfolio to a size of around EUR 50 million, with long-term leases on strong locations. Van Benthem & Keulen acted as the legal advisor on behalf of Equity Estate, whilst BVVL winkel vastgoed adviseurs acted as the commercial advisor of the seller during the entire process.

HighBrook Investors acquires office building ‘Parktoren’ in Amstelveen

5-4, 2017

TRIUVA Kapitalverwaltungsgesellschaft mbH has sold the ‘Parktoren’ to the combination consisting of HighBrook Investors and Equity Estate.

The office building ‘Parktoren’ is located at a privileged location in Amstelveen, nearby the city of Amstelveen at the Van Heuven Goedhartlaan 7-13 in Amstelveen.

The total floor area comprises approximately 10,000 sq. m. office space, spread over 10 floors with 45 parking spaces located in the parking garage underneath the building. The building is rented to several lessee’s, amongst others the Rabobank, Greif Beheer and Aurora Hotel Development.

In this transaction TRIUVA was advised by Van Gool ♦ Elburg Vastgoedspecialisten, legally CMS Derks Star Busmann was involved and tax advice was given by PwC.

HighBrook Investors was advised by Equity Estate, Loyens & Loeff and SGS Search during this transaction.

Equity Estate divests warehouse building in Enschede, the Netherlands

17-3, 2017

In March 2017, Equity Estate successfully divested the approximately 6,800 sqm warehouse building located at the Strootsweg 16 in Enschede. KLM Kwintet Kleding was the former occupier that terminated its lease in Q2 2016. The building was vacant for some time. Two local investors have acquired the building for a price of EUR 1,725,000. The vendor has been advised by Cushman & Wakefield and Boers & Lem.

Equity Estate appoints Rob de Groot as Director Management Services

6-3, 2017

Equity Estate, specialist in Asset Management and Management Services in real estate, appointed Rob de Groot(49) as Director Management Services. De Groot has build a strong and positive track record in management services at ABN AMRO Trust Company and most recently at TMF Netherlands, where he worked as Team Leader Accounting. Within Equity Estate De Groot is responsible for all management services activities and will take directorship for real estate investors that choose domiciliation in the Netherlands for their property companies. He will report his activities to the board of Equity Estate, formed by Enrico van Erkelens (CEO) and Nard Schuddebeurs (COO).

Enrico van Erkelens, CEO Equity Estate, says about the appointment of De Groot
“Investments in direct real estate in the Netherlands are tremendously popular. For foreign investors and private equity firms a well thought out portfolio and efficient and careful management of the properties are important for optimal efficiency. That requires specific knowledge of the local real estate market and knowledge of financial constructions and tax law to make sure investments correspond with the needs and aspirations of investors. We are fully organised around this service: we have been in real estate for 20 years, have a solid structure for controlling and reporting, are in possession of the Dutch Supervision of Trust Offices Act license (Wtt) and are supervised by the Dutch Central Bank. Rob’s strong track record in the field of accounting, company management and fiduciary management, in combination with our thorough knowledge of the real estate market offers us the opportunity to expand our management services activities to clients of which we are not the asset management partner.”

Background Rob de Groot
De Groot has an accounting background and did various studies in the field of international tax law and a Master Trust Officer course. From 1987 to 2005, he worked in various positions at ABN AMRO, including 10 years as Senior Client Relationship Manager at ABN AMRO Trust Company (Netherlands) BV. Over the past 10 years De Groot worked for TMF Netherlands BV where he was responsible for the Accounting Team (about 300 companies), setting up the VAT compliance department and the Banking Team. In addition, he was personally active as statutory director at Dutch entities of international organisations in the banking industry, telecommunications and real estate.

Equity Estate and Kyocera prolong lease in Zaventem (Belgium)

2-3, 2017

Equity Estate has successfully extended the lease agreement with tenant Kyocera Document Solutions Belgium NV in Zaventem (Belgium). It contains approx. 2,100 sqm of office, showroom and archive space and the lease is now running until 2023. The building is located on the Sint Martinusweg in Zaventem and forms part of the AB CPFM Real Estate Holding Group portfolio, a joint venture created in 2006 with Arab Bank. Kyocera Document Solutions Belgium NV has been a tenant in the building since 2007. From this location in Zaventem Kyocera manages its sales, marketing and services in Belgium and Luxemburg.

Equity Estate advises HighBrook on the acquisition of 10 Dutch office properties from Hanzevast

19-12, 2016

In an off-market transaction, Equity Estate advised HighBrook Investors on the acquisition of an office portfolio in the Netherlands from various entities managed and controlled by Hanzevast Capital. The portfolio totals approximately 51,250 sqm of leasable area and consists of ten separate properties located throughout the Netherlands.

This marks HighBrook Investors’ second transaction in the Netherlands after its recent acquisition of “De West” Transformatorweg 74-118 in Amsterdam and Laan van Vredenoord 8-24 in Rijswijk. HighBrook closed both transactions on an all-cash basis.

HighBrook Investors is a US-based real estate private equity firm with approximately € 1.0 billion in AUM. The firm has offices in New York, London, Newport Beach and Atlanta. The company is actively seeking additional opportunities to acquire well located office assets primarily in the Greater Amsterdam area. (www.highbrookinvestors.com).

HighBrook was advised on the transaction by Equity Estate, Jones Day and E&Y. The vendor Hanzevast was advised by Wallich & Matthes and TRIP.

Equity Estate and Otto Harrassowitz prolong lease of 7,500 m² in Wiesbaden (Germany)

19-12, 2016

Equity Estate has successfully extended the lease agreement with tenant Otto Harrassowitz GmbH & Co. KG in Wiesbaden, Germany for 7,500 m² of office and archive space. The lease is now running until 2022, Otto Harrassowitz has been on this location since 2003 and shows commitment to the area and to Wiesbaden, where it is located since 1953.

After the earlier lease transactions with Dräger and Bildungswerk der Hessischen Wirtschaft, the occupancy level in the office complex at the Kreuzberger Ring in Wiesbaden now amounts to over 90%. Only 900 sqm of office space is still available for leasing. This vacancy is the only vacancy in the AB Alternative Fund SICAV SIF, which amounts to only 1.6% of the total (theoretical) rent passing.

The Venture  ‘AB Alternative Fund SICAV-SIF’ was launched in Q2 2016 and because of investor inflow we are searching for strong additional investments with a volume between € 10 and € 25 million in Germany and Benelux.

Equity Estate advises Highbrook Investors on the acquisition of “De West” in Amsterdam and Laan van Vredenoord in Rijswijk from Internos

16-12, 2016

Internos Global Investors has sold two office buildings to HighBrook Investors on behalf of Internos Spezialfondsgesellschaft GmbH. 

The office buildings, “De West” Transformatorweg 74-118 in Amsterdam and Laan van Vredenoord 8-24 in Rijswijk, include a total leasable area of approx. 16,300 sqm. ‘De West’ in the Sloterdijk/Teleport submarket of Amsterdam is partly leased to KPN, approx. 65% of the building is vacant. The building in Rijswijk is fully leased to Boele & van Eesteren en Euro Pool System on long term leases. 

This marks one of HighBrook Investors’ first transactions in the Netherlands. HighBrook closed the transaction on an all-cash basis.  HighBrook Investors is a US-based real estate private equity firm with approximately €1.0 billion in AUM.  The firm has offices in New York, London, Newport Beach and Atlanta. The company is actively seeking additional opportunities to acquire well located office assets primarily in the Greater Amsterdam area. (www.highbrookinvestors.com).

INTERNOS was advised by Cushman & Wakefield, Houthoff Buruma and Atlas Fiscalisten. Highbrook Investors was advised by Jones Day, EY and Equity Estate. The asset management will be performed by Equity Estate.