German trade fair organiser Messe Frankfurt has purchased the congress centre being developed in Frankfurt's Europaviertel district by a joint venture of Hamburg-based developer ECE and Austrian listed firm CA Immo. The companies agreed to keep financial details confidential.

Messe Frankfurt will be the owner and operator of the building located adjacent to the Skyline Plaza complex. The scheme, due to open in autumn 2013, consists of 17,000 m2 of space and is targeting DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council) 'green' certification.

The deal comes shortly after the partnership's divestment in September of an 80% stake in the 38,000-m2 Skyline Plaza shopping mall for some EUR 360 mln. Together with the congress centre, Skyline Plaza is being built in Europaviertel - a new inner-city district emerging close to the main railway station and the banking district.

'The new congress centre marks an important expansion of Messe Frankfurt's range in this event segment. Existing space has been booked up and we are now tapping into additional customer segments for one of our core activities in the high-growth congress and convention sector,' said Wolfgang Marzin, president and CEO of Messe Frankfurt.

Messe Frankfurt's exhibition grounds, featuring 578,000 m2, are currently home to 10 exhibition halls and an adjacent congress centre. The company is publicly-owned, with the City of Frankfurt holding 60% and the State of Hesse the remaining 40%.