Germany's Union Investment Real Estate is strengthening its Hamburg portfolio with the acquisition of its first asset in the large HafenCity urban development project.

In a statement this week, the fund manager said that it has purchased the newly developed Centurion mixed-use centre in the port city of Hamburg for around EUR 71 mln.

The purchase agreement for the 13,500-m2 retail and office centre was signed just before the turn of the year with a joint venture of developer DC Commercial and investor Wölbern Invest.

The scheme is 85% leased and offers eight storeys of office and retail space as well as 167 underground parking spaces. The project, which has received the 'Gold' energy-efficiency rating from DGNB, is earmarked for the UniImmo: Deutschland open-ended fund, and adds to the vehicle's high-quality retail portfolio including the Mercado shopping centre.

The acquisition comes hard on the heels of UniImmo: Deutschland's sale last week of an office building in the city centre of Hamburg for nearly EUR 45 mln to Aachen-based Grundvermögen Kapitalanlagegesellschaft. Main tenant of the asset is Benetton.

Separately, Union Investment has announced the acquisition of the 26,000-m2 Äppelallee shopping centre in Wiesbaden, Germany from Hamburg-based Newport for an undisclosed amount. The property will also be transferred to the UniImmo: Deutschland's portfolio. Built in 1969, the almost fully-let asset was completely refurbished over 2009 and 2010 and re-opened in October last year.