In addition, the international owner, developer and operator of class A office buildings closed the fund's first acquisition—a 16,500 square meter class A office building in Milan's financial district. The property is 100% leased to Banco Popolare di Verona e Novara, a major Italian bank and is located on the Via Santa Margherita.

"The strategy of this fund plays to business trends occurring across Europe, as the consolidation of various industries drives demand for certain types of office space," says Jerry I. Speyer, president and CEO, in a statement. "We anticipate that as companies in Europe consolidate their operations, they will shift their mix of office space to emphasize larger, high-quality properties in the central business districts of a few key cities. This fund will focus on such properties as their value in the marketplace increases."

The move is just the most recent in the company's 15-year history of acquisition, development and management of office buildings in central business districts throughout Western Europe. Tishman Speyer properties include New York City's Chrysler Building and Rockefeller Center, London's Millbank Tower and Tower Place, Berlin's Sony Center and Frankfurt's MesseTurm.