Portland Towers consists of two former silos, which were converted for multi-tenant office accommodation in 2014. Located along Copenhagen’s waterfront in Nordhavn, the property comprises 12,753 square metres of office space and is fully let to a prestigious tenant mix. Tenants include the embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany, corporate finance advisory firm FIH Partners, consultancy firm PA Consulting Group and Dansk Standard, Denmark’s national standardisation organisation.

Portland Towers set new standards for sustainable building design, construction and operation during its BREEAM certification in 2014. HECF’s investment in Portland Towers underlines the fund and Hines’ commitment to achieving high levels of sustainability and ESG performance across its portfolio.

The acquisition follows the fund’s acquisition of 121 apartments at Trikotageparken, north Copenhagen, in April. Since 2019, HECF has sought to increase exposure to office, residential and urban logistics assets in the Nordics and Portland Towers forms part of HECF’s wider strategy of seeking high quality Core assets in European cities with strong long-term growth prospects.

In 2020 the HECF was recognized as one of the top property funds in Europe, achieving the MSCI European Property Investment Award for the best performing pan-European balanced fund between 2017 and 2019. This follows the Fund’s recognition by GRESB as the most sustainable fund in Europe of all diversified portfolios and Global Sector Leader in Real Estate Assessments for a third consecutive year.

Peter Epping, Senior Managing Director and HECF Fund Manager at Hines, said: “Copenhagen remains an important target market for HECF given its stability and affordability in the European context as well as its generally strong fundamentals and long-term growth prospects. Portland Towers is an outstanding asset in an excellent location and with its strong tenant mix and high sustainability performance it fits well into HECF’s approach of strategic investing. Across Europe we continue to see opportunities to acquire high-quality office assets in major cities, alongside our diversification towards residential and logistics.”

James Robson, Senior Managing Director and country head for The Nordics at Hines, said: “This truly unique building is well positioned within the vibrant new district of Nordhavn, and offers an unparalleled view of the waterfront and Copenhagen skyline. The area is set to see further development and the newly opened M4 metro line further enhances Nordhavn’s already excellent transport links. We see strong growth potential in Denmark, and our Copenhagen team has grown to 16 as we actively review opportunities across office, residential, logistics and mixed-use.”

Price details for the acquisition were not disclosed.Hines was advised by Plesner Advokatpartnerselskab, EY and Rambøll. CBRE A/S provided commercial advice. The vendors were advised by Colliers International. Photography of Portland Towers was provided by Mikkel Johnsen.