The areas sold adjoin the planned square to the north are bordered to the west by Heidestraße, which has been transformed into a boulevard. The joint venture plans to build around 490 apartments in total, which are mainly to be put on the Berlin market as rental apartments. In the ground floor zones along Heidestraße and towards the square there are to be shops, restaurants and cafés. A commercial usage mix is also to be created on an area of around 10,000 m² on Heidestraße. The urban character is rounded off by a day care centre with space to accommodate 45 children. Initial construction work is to start by the end of 2016, so the first apartments in this area of Europacity will probably be available to move into in 2018.

Guido Schütte, Head of CA Immo Berlin: "CA Immo is not only involved in Europacity as a developer, but also as a successful investor in projects such as the Tour Total, the John F. Kennedy Haus and the InterCity Hotel for its own portfolio. We will continue in this vein with in-house developments such as the new KPMG building and other new projects. The sale of this land is particularly pleasing for us, as it will now add even greater momentum to the development of the quarter. Very soon there will not only be office workers hurrying to their buildings, but also Berliners living here or strolling on the riverside promenade.

Philipp Braschel, Partner, Benson Elliot Capital Management: We are delighted to be able to make a contribution to sustainable urban development with this project in Europacity. The acquisition of these centrally located sites offers Benson Elliot a unique opportunity to build high-quality apartments in the centre of Berlin. Following on from our acquisition of the head office of Berliner Volksbank eG in the City-West district in the spring of 2015, this purchase underlines our continuing serious interest in the Berlin investment market.

Hagen Kahmann, Managing Director of Kauri CAB: "The area is one of the most interesting inner-city quarters for residential development. It is our aim to contribute to this new urban landscape, to underline the international character of Berlin and to create attractive residential property. With an inventory of over 3,000 residential units in Berlin, we are now also actively looking forward to sharing in the redesign of Berlin.