DWS announced it has expanded its presence in Finland, acquiring three residential projects from real estate developer and constructor SRV for EUR 82 million in a forward funding structure. The three residential assets, comprising 257 units in Helsinki, Espoo and Kerava, will be built on behalf of one of DWS’ German institutional real estate funds with construction starting in the next three months. 

“We look forward to working with SRV to deliver these three residential projects as we continue to grow our footprint in the Nordics, where recent investments include office, logistics and residential properties,” said Martin Weikamp, Head of Real Estate Transactions, Northern Europe, at DWS. “With this latest acquisition of a high quality residential portfolio in established and further developing areas in the Greater Helsinki region we will meet the high demand for small and mid-sized rental apartments driven by demographic change, strong urbanisation and growing amounts of one and two person households,” he added.

The transaction was carried out in collaboration with Newsec, DWS’s local partner in the Nordics.

“The transaction showcases SRV’s strong residential pipeline in the Helsinki Region, where both tenant and investor demand have been robust throughout past years. Moreover, the projects exemplify our focus on life-cycle wise strategy as we aim to build these assets according to the highest environmental standards. We are grateful to the DWS team for a smooth and professional transaction process,” says Saku Sipola, President & CEO of SRV.  

Three housing development projects:

- In Helsinki (Asunto Oy Helsingin Pohjantytär), located in South Haaga, a sought-after district a few kilometres from central Helsinki, in the Pohjola block being developed by SRV. The project comprises of a 17-storey residential building with 141 apartments. Construction will be completed in late 2023. 

- In Espoo (Asunto Oy Espoon Saunakukka), located in a family neighbourhood of Saunalahti. At completion, there will be 63 apartments in three three-storey buildings. 

- In Kerava, SRV will construct a 53-unit apartment building (Asunto Oy Keravan Aleksinniitty) in Kerava’s city centre, next to a range of local services and with excellent public transport connections. Construction of Saunakukka will be completed in autumn 2022 and Aleksinniitty early 2023.