Kingstone RE secures €150m for German affordable housing

Kingstone Real Estate has completed the equity raising for its Kingstone Bezahlbares Wohnen Deutschland I institutional real estate fund.

Kingstone Real Estate

The fund, which focuses on affordable housing in Germany, secured €150 mln in equity capital, sourced entirely from a single institutional investor via a separate account mandate.
With a planned 50% leverage, the fund is set to achieve a total investment volume of approximately €300 mln. 
Hansainvest Hanseatische Investment Gesellschaft is acting as the fund's third-party Alternative Investment Fund Manager (AIFM). Following this success, Kingstone RE is already developing a successor fund in the affordable housing sector.
Roughly one-third of the Kingstone Bezahlbares Wohnen Deutschland I institutional fund's total investment volume of approximately €300 mln is already committed. This commitment is secured through notarized agreements for projects in Mannheim, Nuremberg, Fürth, and Weil am Rhein, which are expected to provide over 200 affordable apartment units in desirable areas upon completion.
Tim Schomberg, CEO and co-founder of Kingstone RE, commented: “For us as an investment boutique, it is a strong sign of confidence that an institutional investor decided to commit an investment volume of this magnitude in the affordable housing segment together with us and our specialists. At the investor’s request, we structured the vehicle as an separate account mandate. Our longer-term outlook is to address the persistent demand through a successor fund that will engage the subject of affordable and subsidised housing in Germany on a larger scale and with specific key aspects added.”
Ansgar Pape, a managing director of Kingstone Residential Investments, stated: “We are already in exclusive due diligence negotiations and detailed pre-acquisition audits for many other attractive residential projects in Germany. The auspicious pipeline illustrates not only the strong demand for affordable and subsidised housing but also the excellent market access and in-depth expertise of our team. Considering the reassuring pace of our progress, we are convinced that we will manage to place the remaining investment capital of our first fund in full and for this specific purpose in the foreseeable future – and that we will thus continue to contribute to the creation of urgently needed new housing stock.”
Simon Lieb, another managing director of Kingstone Residential Investments, added: “In a parallel move, we are already preparing a successor fund and conducting talks to secure an attractive seed portfolio. In addition to affordable housing for families, seniors, and singles, we also intend—based on the German Government’s new ‘Young Living’ funding program—to integrate affordable housing for students and apprentices. Doing so will help us broaden the effective scope of our approach and will contribute more specifically to the creation of just the right housing options for the various stages of life.”
Kingstone Real Estate focuses on real estate investments in the DACH region, Poland, and the Benelux countries and manages real estate portfolios of around €1 bn.