German property investor WealthCap has signed a preliminary agreement with an unnamed buyer to sell the Gropius Passegen in Berlin for a total of EUR 341 mln. The 85,000 m2 scheme in the city's Neukölln district is owned by WealthCap's closed-end HFS Immobilien Deutschland 11 fund.

In a statement, the fully-owned subsidiary of Italian bank Unicredit said the 3,000 investors in the fund will now vote on the disposal, which is expected to generate a return of 75% on the subscription amount. The deal is expected to complete by the first half of 2012.

'Demand for retail properties remains strong. This is especially true for sites with limited supply such as Berlin. Therefore, it makes sense for us to take advantage of the positive market situation,' said Wealthcap's Gabriele Volz.

Gropius Passegen is one of the largest shopping centres in Berlin, covering some 85,000 m2 of retail space over 180 shops.

Launched in 1994, HFS Immobilien Deutschland 11 also owns two office properties in Bielefeld, Amerikahaus and the Telekom scheme, which are 97%- and 90%-leased respectively. The vehicle raised total equity of EUR 177 mln and invested EUR 360 mln in the three assets.