As Grossmann & Berger had predicted at the end of the 3rd quarter, the total take-up of Hamburg office space for the year was 455,000 m². This figure falls 5 % below the five-year average of 479,000 m². Compared with the strong result in 2022, take-up of space is down by 19 %.
“In 2023 the trend towards better quality became established, as may be seen from the year-on-year growth in premium rents. Overall, however, circumstances on the office-letting market have grown more difficult, and in the year just gone by businesses were appreciably more reluctant to make a decision than in 2022,” says Andreas Rehberg, spokesperson for the management board of GPP-member Grossmann & Berger.
Office letting market Hamburg details:
- In the size category 5,000 m² or more, take-up dropped by 28 % to 144,000 m². The number of large-volume contracts concluded fell from 19 to 16. With the exception of the construction start for police headquarters at Bruno-Georges-Platz 2 in City North (7,100 m² of space), no owner-occupier agreements were noted in this size category. Whereas the biggest office suite leased in 2022 was 40,000 m² in size (Dataport), this year’s largest lease was for 22,200 m² (Hamburg Port Authority HPA).
- The proportion of owner-occupiers was unchanged year on year at 11 %. HPA’s purchase of the “New Work Harbour” at Strandkai 1 comprised about 45 % of the total owner-occupier take-up of 50,000 m².
- Year on year the average rent softened by some 2 %, partly because more than half of office lettings in the over 5,000 m² sector were outside City and HafenCity. Only in the City and HafenCity sub-markets did the average rent for properties of all sizes rise, increasing by 60 cents to €27.50/m²/month.
- The amount of space available at short notice grew significantly by 17 % year on year. Consequently the vacancy rate leapt from 4.0 % to 4.6 %. “Compared with the past twenty years, this is still a healthy amount that gives tenants a real choice,” says Rehberg.
- Completion of some developments was delayed in 2023. The year thus closed with a projected completion volume of 432,000 m² for 2024 and 2025 in 44 different developments. At present around 155,000 m² of new office space is being built on speculation.
An overview of the office letting top deals and all relevant market figures can be found in the press release for download.
Our Market survey office letting Hamburg 2023/Q1-4 in PDF format will shortly be available to download from our website.