DIC Asset AG lets “Pressecafé” inside the “Pressehaus am Alex” to Berlin-based restaurant operator

Press release

DIC Asset AG lets “Pressecafé” inside the “Pressehaus am Alex” to Berlin-based restaurant operator

• Lease with the well-known local restaurant operator signed for 20-year term
• Occupancy rate of the tripartite building cluster rising to 86%
• DIC lays the ground for revitalisation of a history-steeped meeting place

Frankfurt am Main, 31 July 2023. DIC Asset AG (“DIC”), ISIN: DE000A1X3XX4, one of Germany’s leading listed property companies, just signed a long-term lease agreement for about 1,450 sqm of gastronomy space following the completion of the comprehensive refurbishment works at the two-storey “Pressecafé” building. The incoming tenant is Alexander Freund, a restaurant operator well-known in Berlin as he operates another five culinary venues in the city. This means that the prestigious building cluster on Alexanderplatz (managed by DIC for third parties), consisting of the 17-storey “Pressehaus” high-rise, the “Pressecafé” and the “New Podium” building, is now occupied to 86%. It has a total floor area of about 36,000 sqm. DIC’s local lettings team in Berlin is already conducting talks with other tenant leads concerning the three office and retail units that remain available.

“The signing of this lease agreement means we cleared yet another milestone in the ongoing comprehensive refurbishment of the historic landmark building cluster at Berlin’s Alexanderplatz. We’re glad to have found a tenant in Alexander Freund who appreciates the history of the building as much as we do. Working in close consultation with the heritage conservation authority, we are engaged in a joint effort to reshape this prominent square, returning a historic and culinary meeting point in the very heart of Berlin to the local population,” said Robert Rosenzweig, the head of the Berlin branch of DIC Onsite GmbH, a subsidiary of DIC.

“Given its prominent location and exposure, the Pressecafé offered by DIC is a product that perfectly matches my business model, which is to breathe culinary life back into historic buildings of a certain vibrancy,” said restaurant operator Alexander Freund. “Our collaboration is a boon for the population and cultural scene of Berlin.”

The tenant is currently proceeding with the interior fit-out of the two-storey building in accordance with latest technical and sustainability standards. The design plan for the Pressecafé ground floor is influenced by the 76-metre-long wall frieze created by Willi Neubert. The frieze was restored in 2021 and is subject to heritage protection. The upper floor, formerly known as the Escados steakhouse, is being turned into another steak restaurant named “Beast – Berlin”. Both facilities are expected to open on 1 May 2024.

At the time the building cluster was acquired by a DIC investment vehicle in 2019, it consisted of two separate properties, one being the “Pressehochhaus” high-rise (about 21,600 sqm of lettable area), and other being “Pressecafé” (about 1,450 sqm of lettable area). The seven-storey “New Podium” with its roughly 12,700 sqm of lettable area was added in 2021.

About DIC Asset AG:

DIC Asset AG is Germany’s leading listed specialist for office and logistics real estate with 25 years of experience on the real estate market and access to a broad-based network of investors. Our business is based on a regional and inter-regional real estate platform with nine offices on the ground in all major German markets (with VIB Vermögen AG included). We currently manage a total of 357 assets with a combined market value of EUR 14.1 billion on site, always close to our properties and their occupiers.

The Commercial Portfolio segment comprises real estate held for our own account. Here, we generate steady cash flows from stable rent revenues on long-term leases while also optimising the value of our portfolio assets through active management, and realising gains from sales.

In the Institutional Business segment, we earn recurrent fees from real estate services we provide to national and international institutional investors by structuring and managing investment products that return attractive dividend yields.

For more details, go to www.dic-asset.de/en.

IR/PR Contact DIC Asset AG:
Peer Schlinkmann
Head of Investor Relations & Corporate Communications
Neue Mainzer Str. 20 • MainTor Primus

D-60311 Frankfurt am Main
T +49 69 9454858-1492
ir@dic-asset.de