Hamburg: Industrial, Warehousing and Logistics Property Market, 1st Quarter of 2017

Best first quarter ever thanks to big property agreements

Hamburg, 25 April 2017. In the 1st quarter of 2017 150,000 m² of industrial, warehousing and logistics space in Hamburg and its environs was newly let or taken by an owner-occupier. According to Grossmann & Berger, a member ofGerman Property Partners (GPP), take-up of space was13% higher than in the same period a year before. “This was the best first-quarter result we have ever recorded. Until now, the figure to beat was take-up of 135,000 m² in 2011,” comments Felix Krumreich, consultant for industrial, warehousing and logistics properties at Grossmann & Berger. “This excellent result owed a great deal to four rental agreements for over 10,001 square metres each. A year ago, no premises were taken in this size category.”

Letting market: Four big property agreements

  1. Agreements: Year on year the number of leases and owner-occupier transactions fell by 26% to a total of 31 (2016: 42). Owner-occupiers made up 15%, barely changed from the 17% posted in the prior year. The biggest rental agreement was signed by Hamburg State Opera for theatrical equipment storage space in the “Neuer Huckepackbahnhof” development in the “Billebogen” neighbourhood (Billstrasse, Hamburg East). A new build is being erected specifically for the Opera, to offer 17,000 m² of space for the storage of costumes and scenery, plus workshops; completion is scheduled for 2018. Transgourmet Deutschland, a bulk supplier to restaurants and caterers, secured 15,000 m² - the second-biggest agreement of the quarter - on the “Obergeorgswerder industrial estate” (BeimSchröderschen Hof 7, Hamburg East).
  2. Take-up of space by size categories: Comprising eleven agreements, a remarkable 75% of the take-up of industrial, warehousing and logistics space (112,100 m²) was noted for the two size categories of 5,001 m² and higher. The 10,001 m² segment accounted for 38% of take-up, marginally more than the 37% posted for the next-smaller category. Year on year the number of agreements signed in the 5,001 to 10,000 m² size category fell from eight to seven.
  3. Rents: Whereas the average rent slipped by ten cents over the period of one year to €4.70/m²/month, the premium rent rose by ten cents to €5.80/m²/month.
  4. Take-up of space by industry: The logistics/forwarding industry took a full 41% of the space turned over. This sector was responsible for two of the four biggest agreements. Dirk Vollmer, a storage and forwarding company, rented 13,700 m² of space plus 500 m² of offices in the “VGP Park Hamburg” (Oldendorfer Strasse, South-East Environs) and a provider of logistics services took 10,800 m² plus 830 m² of office space in the “Altenwerder III logistics centre” (AltenwerderHauptstrasse 11-23, Hamburg South). The retail sector took 16% less space than a year ago, accounting for 29%

of the take-up of space. The biggest change in requirements was noted in the industrial/skilled trades sector, with a rise from 7% to reach a share of 23%.

  1. Take-up of space by sub-markets: In the 1st quarter of the year noteworthy developments were observed in two sub-markets. Bolstered by the two biggest rental agreements, Hamburg East posted the largest share of total take-up at 31%, followed by South West Environs with 28%. The latter result was largely due to an agreement mentioned earlier for the third-biggest amount of space. Compared with the prior year, the take-up of space returned to a more even spread of 57 to 43 between the city and its environs.

Outlook

“In view of the extremely strong first quarter the forecast we made at the end of last year that 2017 would see take-up of between 550,000 and 600,000 square metres seems realistic. This does, however, depend on some owners starting construction for their own use, such as DP DHL in Hamburg-Neuland or Rewe in Henstedt-Ulzburg,” adds Krumreich. “Since a large part of the available space in the southern environs was let in 2016, appreciably less is now on the market.”

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The next detailed market survey industrial, warehousing, logistics will be published at the beginning of the second half of 2017.

About Grossmann & Berger

Grossmann & Berger GmbH is one of the leading real estate service companies for the sale and lease of commercial and residential real estate in Northern Germany. With ten offices in Hamburg and further ones in Berlin, Ahrensburg, Lüneburg and on the island of
Sylt the company is present throughout the Northern German market. Thanks to more than 80 years of experience, the company disposes of an extensive real estate competence. Grossmann & Berger is a subsidiary of the HASPA-Group and founder member of the nationwide commercial real estate network German Property Partners (GPP). [

Press contact

Grossmann & Berger GmbH

Ms Britt Finke

Phone+49 (0)40 / 350 80 2 - 993

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