Market Report No. 4 by the Initiative Unternehmensimmobilien

Market Report No. 4 by the Initiative Unternehmensimmobilien

The first three Market Reports have been instrumental in the ongoing effort to establish the new asset class of multi-use and multi-let commercial real estate – referred to by the German term “Unternehmensimmobilien” – on the real estate investment market, as investors and other market players in Germany have increasingly taken note. For the time being, the potential of the asset class is still not fully tapped – not least because the market transparency of this young asset class is not as developed as it is in the established sectors. This is where the INITIATIVE UNTERNEHMENSIMMOBILIEN comes in, creating a basis for fact-based know-how by providing definitions, standards and market intelligence. The market observation effort continues with the Market Report no. 4 now out, which further enhances the degree of transparency in this market segment.

In fact, the report findings are a demonstrable confirmation of the increased transparency: At 1.32 billion euros, the second half-year of 2015 returned the highest transaction total seen since the Initiative was formed. “The internationally established asset class of light industrial real estate is now experiencing strong tailwinds in Germany, too,” commented Dr. Ulf Meinel, Managing Director of Geneba Real Estate Investments, a new member of Initiative Unternehmensimmobilien. At 1.93 billion euros, the year-end transaction total of 2015 matched the trend, implying a year-on-year increase by 19%, and thereby mooted the cautious note sounded in the mid-year report. Especially the continuous increase in investor demand for light manufacturing properties and the steady growth in light manufacturing asset sales by their erstwhile occupiers demonstrate the effectiveness of the work done by the Initiative Unternehmensimmobilien. Germany is home to a vast number of light manufacturing businesses, and an increasing number of them are now selling off their property holdings, preferring to rent instead. Credit for the marketability of this heterogeneous property category goes to the Initiative, who helped to establish it as an asset class in its own right by highlighting the advantages for manufacturing businesses of renting their premises rather than tying up resources for managing proprietary real estate.

Survey Background

Going forward, the fourth industrial revolution and the developments associated with the emerging Internet of Things will cause paradigmatic changes to the work environments and corporate floor space requirements. The commercial real estate serving the needs of “Industry 4.0” therefore require increasing degrees of flexibility and multi-functionality.

The type of building corpus that would meet Germany's changing industry requirements is provided by Unternehmensimmobilien. It is a rather young property market segment with a huge growth upside. Properties of the Unternehmensimmobilien type give companies a variety of options for structuring and using their business premises: Office, light manufacturing, warehouse, logistics, service and clearance space may be combined in modular arrangements. Accordingly, occupiers get exactly the accommodation they need in order to ensure efficient work streams.

In 2010, bulwiengesa seized the opportunity of a joint survey on the subject of commercial and industrial real estate to define Unternehmensimmobilien as a distinct asset class of multi-use and multi-let commercial real estate. In the years since, the category has been subject to a dynamic development, and it is becoming increasingly attractive both to occupiers and to investors. Especially against the background of hardening yield rates, Unternehmensimmobilien are gaining in significance as alternative investment assets. So far, however, market intelligence available on this asset class has rarely been exhaustive, and this even though its yield upside remains more or less unexploited.

Purpose of the INITIATIVE UNTERNEHMENSIMMOBILIEN

To further enhance the transparency of the German market for Unternehmensimmobilien, the INITIATIVE UNTERNEHMENSIMMOBILIEN will keep publishing its market report twice a year. The market intelligence the reports provide is made available to all interested decision makers, investors, corporates and industry insiders. The unique benefit of the reports is that the intelligence and data used to compile them is sourced directly from the owners, and supplemented by bulwiengesa's proprietary RIWIS database. This ensures that the market report relies on high-quality data and maps the market with a high degree of accuracy. Issue 4 of the Market Report focuses on the performance of the market during the second half of 2015 while also analysing the market action of the year as a whole.
Current members of the INITIATIVE UNTERNEHMENSIMMOBILIEN include Germany's 13 leading players (ATOS, aurelis, BEOS, Garbe, Geneba, GSG Berlin, Hansteen, Investa, M7 Real Estate, SEGRO, Siemens, Sirius Facilities, VALAD) on the market for multi-use and multi-let commercial real estate, along with bulwiengesa as the Initiative's research partner.

The INITIATIVE UNTERNEHMENSIMMOBILIEN continues to evolve. Visit us on the internet at unternehmensimmobilien.net to stay up to date.

Contact: Tobias Kassner, kassner [at] bulwiengesa.de, Phone +40 (0)30 - 2787 6823

Topics:
Ongoing Market Observations
Converted property Eichborndamm 167–175/179, Berlin
Converted property Eichborndamm 167–175/179, Berlin
Members of the Initiative Unternehmensimmobilien
Members of the Initiative Unternehmensimmobilien
Different categories of Unternehmensimmobilien
Different categories of Unternehmensimmobilien
Absolute take-up in a rolling comparison, by region, in sqm
Absolute take-up in a rolling comparison, by region, in sqm