Giant pension fund TIAA has formed a €1B ($1.2B) partnership with an innovative Dutch developer to build European offices that capture data about the people using them to improve the experience in the buildings.

TIAA has bought an initial two offices totalling €200M in Amsterdam and Berlin with EDGE Technologies, and plans to fund up to €800M more, with a third deal imminent.

TIAA made the acquisition through the Cityhold Office Partnership, a joint venture it has with Danish pension funds AP1 and AP2. The partnership is managed by TH Real Estate, TIAA’s real estate fund management arm, and will fund future developments undertaken by EDGE.

EDGE is a real estate technology company launched in January by OVG Real Estate. OVG is best known for developing the Edge office building in Amsterdam, widely regarded as the most sustainable office building in the world.

EDGE specialises in the development and management of buildings that will meticulously capture data to optimise the user experience and the building’s environmental performance.

The two buildings TIAA purchased include the 120K SF EDGE Olympic, a high-tech and highly sustainable redevelopment in The South Axis district of Amsterdam, TH Real Estate said. The building will target BREEAM Excellent and WELL Gold certifications.
 
The 209K SF EDGE Grand Central is in the Europacity district, a new urban office quarter in the heart of Berlin around the city’s primary train station, Berlin Hauptbahnhof. Scheduled for delivery in Q4 2019, the building will target a DGNB Platinum rating with a minimum of Gold.