GAGFAH invests € 70 million into WOBA portfolio

6/15/2007

• Germany's largest residential property is being refurbished
• Modernized apartments for all tenant groups at the "Prager Zeile"
• Innovative apartments in the heart of Dresden

The GAGFAH GROUP will invest around € 70 million into modernizing and refurbishing its WOBA DRESDEN portfolio this year.  The largest project with € 24 million is the residential property PragerZeile.  Upon completion of this comprehensive refurbishment project WOBA DRESDEN will be letting 561 apartments located in the city center of Dresden.  "We are addressing a very diverse target group with this property and the modern apartments meet the individual needs of basically any tenant," says Burkhard Ulrich Drescher, Chief Executive Officer of the GAGFAH GROUP.

With a length of 250 meters, 11 floors and four entrances the Prager Zeile - located on Prager Straße between the movie theater and the main train station - is the largest residential building in Germany. The project will be finished by the end of 2007. The main elements of the full refurbishment are a new façade, windows, heating system, sanitary installations, electric wiring, and elevators.  By changing the floor plans the total number of apartments will be reduced from 614 to 561 residential units.

The construction work is divided into several phases.  Part of the building has already been completed, and some of the 143 one-room, 402 two-room, 12 three-room, and 4 penthouse apartments have already been let.

The commercial units on the ground floor are also being modernized and will offer retail units between 17 and 280 square meters.

"Our innovative residential concept addresses the different residential needs of students, young adults, the elderly, singles, young families and medium-income tenants.  And the excellent location in the heart of the city center close to Dresden's historic old town makes this property even more attractive," explains Drescher.

Starting in the fall there will also be a concierge service at one of the entrances of the Prager Zeile.  A second concierge service will be available at another entrance starting early next year. Says Drescher, "We have had a very good experience with concierge services in some of our other refurbished properties of WOBA DRESDEN.  Our tenants at the StrassBURG, for example, order breakfast rolls and newspapers or send off packages in the mail through our concierge service.  The recently refurbished Carolinum at the Carola Bridge has been offering a similar service since the beginning of June.  We are now looking forward to expanding this success model at the Prager Zeile."

Furthermore, there are also plans for special services for the elderly, as Drescher explains.  "We want people to live for as long as possible in the environment that they are so familiar with.  Enabling older people to live an independent life in their apartments for the long term is an important contribution to the advancement of a residential quarter." 

Applicants can obtain further information at the Customer Center "Altstadt" on Kreuzkirchstr. 6 on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesdays between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. or call 0351 - 2588 - 822 or go online to www.woba-dresden.de.

About GAGFAH S.A. and the GAGFAH GROUP

GAGFAH S.A. is a stock corporation established under the laws of Luxembourg and qualifies as a securitization company under the Luxembourg Securitization Law of March 22, 2004. The most important subsidiaries of GAGFAH S.A. are GAGFAH GmbH, NILEG and WOBA DRESDEN. The core business of the subsidiaries is the ownership, management and purchase of a high-quality and geographically diversified housing portfolio throughout Germany. Owing a portfolio of over 164,000 rental apartments, GAGFAH S.A. is the largest housing company listed in Germany. GAG-FAH generates 95 percent of its earnings through the leasing of attractive residential space and continuously strives to further improve its services. GAGFAH is aware of its social responsibility as is evidenced, for instance, by special protective rules in fa-vor of tenants and through the GAGFAH Foundation "People and Living" ("Mensch und Wohnen").

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