Frankfurt am Main/Berlin, July 12, 2021 – Ardian, a world-leading private investment house, has signed a long-term lease agreement with Forschungszentrum Jülich for 12,300 sqm of rental space in the office building “3 höfe work” in Berlin’s Mitte (Lützowstrasse 107-112), which is currently under construction. With more than 6,400 employees, Forschungszentrum Jülich is one of the largest interdisciplinary research centers in Europe. Project Management Jülich, which develops and implements research and innovation funding programs on behalf of the Federal Republic of Germany and the federal states, will occupy the newly leased office space in Berlin. The lease agreement has a term of 15 years, and the research center is scheduled to move in in the first six months of 2022 after specifications to the office space have been made.

Upon signing the new lease agreement, the property which has a total rental space of more than 18,000 sqm is now fully pre-leased. In May 2020, the Ardian Real Estate team signed a long-term lease with Sanofi, the French multinational pharma company, which will move into an area of around 5,500 sqm in the fourth quarter of 2021. After completion of the property, the office complex will have seven stories and an underground car park with 52 parking spaces. The modern architecture offers plenty of space with flexibility when it comes to layout. Within walking distance of the underground station at Gleisdreieck, the property is also well-located for public transport.

Nico Rheims, Director at Ardian Real Estate, said: “We are very pleased that a second well-known tenant, Forschungszentrum Jülich, has been secured as a long-term tenant at 3 höfe work. We have now fully leased the property on a long-term basis several months prior to completion. The recent success confirms our strategy with a focus on high-quality and sustainable office buildings in prime locations across Europe.”

In addition to the attractive location at one of the most sought-after office sites in Berlin, the new construction project will be awarded a gold seal of quality by the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB). The contractual provisions with Forschungszentrum Jülich constitute a “Green Lease,” which stipulates the sustainable use and management of the property.

Bernd Haggenmüller, Senior Managing Director at Ardian Real Estate, added: “As an active player throughout Europe, we see the growing importance of ESG both in our investments, and in the management of the properties in our portfolio. In our view, it was a logical step for us to join the ESG initiative ECORE. Buildings account for around one-third of CO2 emissions in Europe. Accordingly, the actions and work of real estate investors and portfolio holders are central to achieving the EU’s climate target for 2050. ECORE’s scoring methodology establishes an industry-wide standard to make sustainability in real estate portfolios transparent, measurable and comparable. This serves as a basis for continuous optimization towards CO2 neutrality and thus supports the goals of the Action Plan for Sustainable Finance for Financial Market Participants and the Paris Climate Agreement.”

ESG Circle of Real Estate (“ECORE”, www.ecore-scoring.com) was founded in February 2020 by Bell Management Consultants and well-known real estate portfolio managers.