German investor enters London market with Fitzrovia buy

German investor Art-Invest Real Estate has entered the London property market with the purchase of a one acre site in Cleveland Street, W1, from Starwood Capital for £30m. It will develop the site, which has planning consent for 88 luxury flats, 35,000 sq ft of commercial space and 15 affordable homes, with developer Dukelease. The project is expected to complete in 2021. AIRE, which has €6bn of assets under management across Germany and Austria, has also opened a London office. It will be headed by Ali Abbas who has held senior roles at German private bank, Sal. Oppenheim, Lendlease and Aecom Capital. Markus Wiedenmann, founder and chief executive of AIRE, said: “Our decision to open a London office is consistent with our core principles of having strong local expertise and capability to ensure best-in-class performance origination and execution for our clients. “Having already established a unique and trusted investor-developer business in Germany, we see the UK as a natural expansion market to pursue a targeted early stage opportunistic investment strategy across the risk curve.” CBRE and Savills advised Starwood Capital.   To send feedback, e-mail louise.dransfield@egi.co.uk or tweet @DransfieldL or @estatesgazette