EURAMCO is preparing to make a move in Canberra. Photo: iStock Photo: iStock

German fund eyes Canberra after investment hiatus

Ingrid Fuary-Wagner|Aug 19, 2019

German giant EURAMCO is preparing to make its first move into Canberra, after more than a decade of investing – and a recent hiatus – in the Australian market.

It is understood the property fund manager is close to swooping on a three-storey commercial building in the northside suburb of Bruce, in the district of Belconnen. The property is priced at about $40 million, which would equate to a yield of about 6 per cent.

The building at 1 Thynne Street in Bruce was built in 2014 and is currently tenanted to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on a long-term lease. It’s being sold by local developers B and T Constructions.

It is understood the property is being sold off-market through Colliers International, but calls were unanswered at the time of publication.

EURAMCO’s Ian Thorpe was non-responsive when contacted by The Australian Financial Review.

The German group has been interested in the Canberra market for several years and is understood to have bid on the Optus Centre at 10 Moore Street in Canberra’s city centre earlier this year, before being pipped by local fund manager Centuria who bought the recently refurbished office building through its Diversified Property Fund for $35 million.

EURAMCO, previously known as SachsenFonds until a rebrand in 2017, has been keeping a low profile in Australia following a series of asset divestments in 2014 and 2016 including a $155 million Melbourne tower at 75 Dorcas Street in 2016 and the T&G building on Collins Street a year earlier for $275 million.

The T&G building, previously known as KPMG House, was the fund’s first investment in the Australian market, back in 2006.

Canberra has been a popular destination for German investors, who have been drawn to the capital because of its long-lease government assets.

In 2017 Deka Immobilien, through local fund manager Armada Funds Management, bought Canberra Outlet Centre, once part of the DFO shopping centre chain, for $135.1 million.

Last year German fund manager Real IS bought Maddocks House at 40 Macquarie Street in the government precinct of Barton for $29 million.