Most notably, it succeeded in the steady expansion of its development activities. The development volume increased by more than 30 percent, climbing from 685 million euros at year-end 2018 to c. 900 million euros by the end of 2019. With c. 730 million euros (2018: 580 million euros), residential developments account for about 80 percent of the total. The remaining amount of 170 million euros (2018: 105 million euros) accounts for the construction of retail properties. The focus of the company’s development activities is on Germany (50 percent), followed by Poland (30 percent), the United States (18 percent) and the Czech Republic (2 percent).
At the same time, Trei has a total of 1.2 billion euros in real estate assets under management (2018: 1.1 billion euros). The portfolio breaks down into 390 properties (2018: 384 properties).
Pepijn Morshuis, the CEO of Trei Real Estate, commented: “We pushed forward along our expansion trajectory in all major segments in 2019. One of the milestones was our entry into the Polish residential property market with the start of construction for the Bacciarellego 54 project in Wrocław. Additional residential developments in Łódź, Poznań and Warsaw are in preparation. All in, Trei has 1,500 residential units either in planning or under construction in Poland. Another major event for Trei was the topping-out ceremony at our first development in Berlin, located on Pappelallee, in December 2019. Among our four developments in Berlin, this is the project farthest advanced. All things considered, we are in the process of planning and developing 750 residential units in a combined investment volume of c. 250 million euros.”
Matthias Schultz, CFO of Trei Real Estate, added: “In a parallel move, we continued to push forward with the development of retail parks under the Vendo Park brand in Poland and the Czech Republic. In fact, we managed to open another five Vendo Parks in 2019. As a result, we had a portfolio of 24 completed properties under management by the end of the year. Another 19 Vendo Parks are currently in planning and under construction.”
Overall, Trei is actively engaged in 35 developments at this time, of which 19 represent the use type “retail.” The projects in this segment, taken together, add up to a total of 130,000 square metres of lettable area. The other 16 developments represent residential properties. The gross building area (GBA) of the 3,600 residential units Trei is currently developing in Germany, Poland and the United States add up to 360,000 square metres.
The bulk of the 390 existing portfolio properties—by number of assets—is located in Poland (36 percent) and Germany (32 percent). Next in line are the Czech Republic (17 percent), Portugal (13 percent), Slovakia (1 percent) and the United States (1 percent). The occupancy rate in the existing portfolio has remained stable at 99.4 percent (2018: 99.4 percent).
Trei’s transaction volume in 2019 added up to c. 90 million euros (2018: 161 million euros). Acquisitions clearly made up the bulk of it with 76 million euros thereof. These were matched by sales worth 14 million euros. The acquisitions involved essentially plots of lands, including land for the development of residential properties in Mainz, Wrocław and the United States, among other places, as well as plots of land earmarked for new Vendo Parks in Poland. Some of the smaller properties in Germany were sold off for the sake of portfolio optimisation.
With a view to 2020, Trei CEO Morshuis had this to say: “The focus in 2020 will be on the expansion of residential development activities in Poland. Several new projects are in preparation here in addition to the ongoing development in Wrocław. At the same time, our activities in the United States are moving ahead at full steam. Here, too, we are already preparing new residential projects in addition to the one already under way in Charlotte, North Carolina. We will soon be able to report the start of construction work for a second development. In Germany, we are making steady progress with our development “Zollhafen Mainz” in addition to our four projects in Berlin. We are currently hosting an architectural competition for the project in Mainz.”
