Swiss Life Living + Working acquires The Grid in Utrecht, the Netherlands

The open-ended public real estate fund “Swiss Life Living + Working” recently acquired The Grid as part of an asset deal in Utrecht, the Netherlands, which was sold in a joint venture between APF International and Angelo Gordon. The transfer of ownership of the property took place in early August 2022. Since then, it has been part of the asset management of Swiss Life Asset Managers Germany.

Completely renovated in 2021, the state-of-the-art office building at “Euclideslaan 251-265” in Utrecht, the Netherlands, has a total rental area of 5730 square metres over seven floors and offers a fully modern working environment. The entrance area contains a reception for visitors to The Grid. On the ground floor there is also an extensive lounge area with its own bistro and several meeting rooms as well as an outdoor area with a relaxation and green space. There are a total of 105 parking spaces, most of them in the build-ing’s underground car park. The property also has 32 of its own e-charging stations. The solar system in-stalled on the roof contributes to the building's elec-tricity and thus reduces the external energy demand, which contributes particularly to the sustainability of the property. The building currently has six tenants with long-term leases. The Grid has EPA Energy label “A”.

Utrecht is the fifth largest city in the Netherlands and has a total population of 361 686. It is part of the “Randstad”, the economic and cultural heart of the Netherlands. The city is therefore easy to reach. The property itself is located between Utrecht Science Park and the city centre, right in Rijnsweerd business park. The infrastructural connection to public transport and the individual local and long-distance transport (sepa-rate bus, bicycle and car lanes and connection to the A28) are excellent. There are several restaurants are within walking distance as well as the public bistro on site. The city centre of Utrecht is a few minutes away by bus, bicycle or car.

“The purchase of the modern office property The Grid in Rijnsweerd submarket represents another highly attractive investment for our fund in the important Dutch office market. After the renovation, the build-ing concept also largely meets our objectives of modern office space and sustainable management,” says Walter Seul, fund manager of Swiss Life Living + Working.

Further information on Living + Working:
The investment focus of Swiss Life Living & Working is on German and European real estate in the residen-tial and healthcare (Living) and office and retail (Work-ing) segments. Through its multi-real estate strategy, the fund has built up a European real estate target portfolio of residential and healthcare properties (in-cluding senior residences, nursing homes, medical office buildings) as well as office and retail properties.

Swiss Life REF (DE) European Real Estate Living and Working also takes ecological, social and governance characteristics into account when selecting and man-aging the properties and is thus to be classified as an ESG product within the meaning of Art. 8 Regulation (EU) 2019/2088.

After more than five years since its launch in Decem-ber 2016, the fund assets of Swiss Life Living + Work-ing now amount to over EUR 1 billion. The portfolio of 37 fund properties has real estate assets of around EUR 1 billion. It currently comprises 33.9% modern offices, 11.8% healthcare properties, 29.9% retail for-mats with a focus on local supplies and specialist stores, and 24.4% residential properties.

Having started with investments in Germany, the fund is increasingly expanding its European strategy. It is currently invested in Germany (57.2%), the Nether-lands (8.0%), Belgium (7.8%), France (8.4%), Switzer-land (5.8%), Austria (11.0%) and Finland (1.8%). (All the above fund figures refer to the key date 31 July 2022).

Please note:
The full name of the fund is “Swiss Life REF (DE) European Real Estate Living and Working.”
For more about Swiss Life Living + Working go to www.livingandworking.de/en

Contact

Communications, Swiss Life Asset Managers, Germany
Stephan Pacho
Phone: +49 69 240031 447
media-de@swisslife-am.com