pbb and HanseMerkur Grundvermögen finance new office building in Frankfurt using hybrid timber construction with green loan totalling €89 million
25.02.2026
Munich/Hamburg, 25 February 2026 – Deutsche Pfandbriefbank AG (pbb) is providing a green loan of €69 million to finance the Timber Pioneer office building in Frankfurt's “Europaviertel district”. The financing was structured in collaboration with HanseMerkur Grundvermögen, which is providing €20 million in subordinated financing through its new financing fund.
The building is owned by “PGE Grundstücksgesellschaft Europaviertel mbH”, which is 74.9% owned by UBM and 25.1% by the Paulus Group. It completed the property on schedule in 2024 and is now the borrower. The dominant tenant of this building is Universal Investment, which has leased the space on a long-term basis as its headquarters.
The property, with a gross floor area of 17,600 square metres, is a modern office building featuring a hybrid timber construction and modern, energy-efficient building services. With its ESG-compliant construction, the office building is perfectly aligned with the sustainability goals of pbb and HanseMerkur Grundvermögen.
Malte Andes, Deputy Chairman of HanseMerkur Grundvermögen, says: ‘This is the first loan from our new Private Real Estate Debt Fund. We were already familiar with the property and the owner, as “Timber Pioneer” is directly adjacent to the FAZ Tower in our portfolio. I am delighted that we were able to initiate the joint financing.’
Gerhard Meitinger, Head of Real Estate Germany at pbb, says: ‘We are very happy to finance modern, ESG-compliant office properties in central and attractive locations, such as in this case, that are tailored to the needs of users. These properties will continue to be in demand among tenants and investors. We are therefore very happy to support our partners in this investment.’
Daniel Pfister, Managing Director of UBM Deutschland GmbH, says: ‘When a company talks about sustainability, it must also exemplify it! We are therefore delighted to have pbb and HanseMerkur Grundvermögen as financing partners at our side who live and support this vision of the future.’
Christian Paulus, Managing Partner of the Paulus Real Estate Group, adds: ‘Together, we have successfully added Frankfurt's first and so far only timber hybrid office building to a structured portfolio, which makes us independent of the current investment market.’
About HanseMerkur Grundvermögen AG (HMG)
HanseMerkur Grundvermögen AG (www.hmg.de) is the real estate investment and asset manager of the HanseMerkur Insurance Group. Its investment focus is on modern and sustainable residential and office properties in Germany's growth regions. HanseMerkur Grundvermögen AG currently has 115 real estate experts and is responsible for real estate assets worth approximately €7 billion.
Institutional investors invest together with HanseMerkur in special real estate funds and financing funds, for example. More than 70 investors already use this form of partnership with HanseMerkur.
About UBM:
UBM Development is one of the leading developers of timber construction projects in Europe. Its strategic focus is on green and smart buildings in metropolitan regions such as Vienna, Munich, Frankfurt and Prague. The platinum rating from EcoVadis and the Prime status from ISS ESG confirm the consistent focus on sustainability. With over 150 years of experience, UBM offers all development services from planning to marketing from a single source. The shares are listed on the Prime Market of the Vienna Stock Exchange, the segment with the highest transparency requirements.