Background
Skelbækgade 2-4 is a 14,000 m² commercial building located in Copenhagen’s meatpacking district. The building is part of a larger real estate investment portfolio managed by Fokus Nordic. In 2019, Copenhagen Municipality, which had letted the property for decades, decided to relocate its offices, leaving the property almost completely vacant.

This created the opportunity to rethink the property to create more value for investors and the local community.

The Project
The property’s fund manager collaborated closely with Fokus Nordic’s asset and project management teams to explore renovation strategies. Together, they developed three potential concepts for the property’s redevelopment. Once a tenant expressed interest in the space, construction commenced.

However, partway through the project, the original tenant filed for bankruptcy, putting investors at risk of a potential loss exceeding DKK 100 million.

Fortunately, during the negotiation phase, Fokus Nordic’s asset management team had secured guarantees and safeguards to mitigate financial risk in the event of tenant default. Thanks to this foresight, the project could proceed under a revised concept designed to attract multiple tenants, thereby protecting the investment and ensuring continued value creation.

The finished property includes

• Modern, flexible offices
• Lounge areas, courtyard, and café and kitchen facilities
• In-house restaurant
• Shower and changing room facilities
• Parkering garage with locked bicycle parking
• Conference room for up to 100 people
• New ventilation and cooling system with district cooling

The Results

• Construction was completed in 2023, on-time and on-budget.
• The property’s energy rating was improved from Class C to Class B.
• Fully let before construction finished.
• A return on investment (IRR) of over 200%.

Services provided

• Asset Management
• Fund Management
• Project Management
• Letting
• Property Administration

“The fact that there are shared meeting facilities
and canteen are really important for us. Our employees use the canteen every day with great enthusiasm.” – Daniel
Birkholm, Tenant and Founder & CEO, Talenthub