This suffices for second place in the last five years of the logistics and industrial property market in Düsseldorf, according to the analysis by Realogis, Germany's leading consultancy for industrial, logistics and commercial properties. Only 2021 was significantly higher with a record take-up of 350,000 m². Looking at the five-year average of 267,660 m² of take-up in the Düsseldorf region, the market had a precisely average year in 2023.

Lessors with the highest take-up in 2023

The main contribution was made by lettings in existing properties with 148,900 m² or 55.7%, similar to the previous year's period in 2022 with 154,500 m² or 58.3%. Lease agreements or owner-occupancy of new buildings on former brownfield sites account for 118,200 m² or 44.3% and grew their results compared to 2022 with +46,200 m² or +64.2% (2022: 72,000 m² or 27.1%). Realogis did not register any lettings or owner-occupancy of new buildings on greenfield sites last year; in 2022, they still accounted for 38,700 m² or 14.6%.

The main contribution by building type was again made by big-box properties with 206,300 m² or 77.2% (2022: 153,100 m² or 57.7%). They were the only category to record a substantial increase of 53,200 m² or 34.7%. Properties that were not allocated to either the big box or business park category remained in second place with 47,000 m² or 17.6% (2022: 66,500 m² or 25.1%). In third place in 2023 are business parks with only 13,800 m² or 5.2%. Coming from 45,600 m² or 17.2%, this is a decrease of 19,500 m² or 29%.

"While big-box properties increased their importance for the Düsseldorf market by around 20 percentage points to more than three quarters of annual take-up, business parks fell by 12 percentage points and other properties by 8 percentage points," noted Bülent Alemdag, Managing Director of Realogis Immobilien Düsseldorf GmbH.

The logistics and industrial property market continues to be an almost complete lessor's market, with a share of 98.1% or 261,900 m² in 2023 (2022: 265,200 m² or 100%).

Sector ranking: Logistics/distribution with significant gains
Logistics/distribution is once again the leading sector in terms of take-up. At 143,200 m² or 53.6%, up from 103,800 m² or 39.1% in 2022, it accounts for more than half of the market's total take-up. The result also represents the most significant year-on-year increase in take-up in absolute terms, totalling 39,400 m² or +38%.

Manufacturing moved up one place year-on-year with 72,800 m² or 27.3% (2022: third place with 52,500 m² or 19.8%). This means that the sector is already taking up one in four square metres of total take-up, compared to just one in five in 2022 (growth of 20,300 m² or 38.7%).

The collective category "Other" came in third place with 34,400 m² or 12.9% (2022: 7,400 m² or 2.8%). Retail deals are in last place. In 2023, it plummeted by -84,800 m² or -83.5% and was only almost a fifth of the previous year's figure (2022: 101,500 m² or 38.3%). Retail is also the only sector to rank far below its own five-year average of currently 76,000 m², which was missed by a significant 78% in 2023.

Within the industry, e-commerce leads with 13,600 m² or 81.4% (2022: 56,100 m² or 55.3%), ahead of traditional retail with 3,100 m² or 18.6% (2022: 45,400 m² or 44.7%).

The significant drop in retail (-84,800 m²) was compensated for by the increase in demand for space from other sectors (86,700 m²), resulting in a small increase of 1,900 m².

Areas of 5001 m² or more account for over 80%
Large areas of 10,001 m² and above were dominant for the Düsseldorf market with 69.6% or 186,000 m². The leading role was maintained, coming from 167,800 m² or 63.3% in 2022. All of the top revenue generators fall into this category and, with 131,380 m², contribute around 70% of the revenue in this size class.

Medium to large spaces between 5,001 and 10,000 m² occupy second place with 33,300 m² or 12.5% (2022: 22,400 m² or 8.4%).

The space category between 3,001 and 5,000 m² is in fourth place with 14,100 m² or 5.3% (2022: 28,900 m² or 10.9%).
Smaller to medium-sized spaces between 1,000 and 3,001 m² rank third with 28,600 m² or 10.7% (2022: 29,500 m² or 11.1%). The smallest spaces of less than 1,000 m² are still in last place with 1.9% or 5,100 m², coming from 16,600 m² or 6.3% in 2022.

"Overall, we observed a concentration on large spaces of 5,001 m² or more on the Düsseldorf market in the past year, which accounted for 82.1% or 219,300 m² of total take-up and increased by 29,100 m² in absolute terms compared to the same period of the previous year," said Bülent Alemdag.

Prime rent rises to €8.25/m² and exceeds five-year average by 23.5%
The prime rent has risen by 15.4% to a new provisional high of €8.25/m², up from €7.15/m² in 2022. This is the most significant increase in prime rent in the market area since Realogis has been keeping records over the last 10 years. The five-year average of €6.68/m² was exceeded by 23.5%.

At 8.3%, the average rent rose less than the prime rent and also reached its provisional high of €6.50/m² at the end of 2023, up from €6.00/m². This development represents the second most significant increase in the last five years. In the previous year, the increase was 13.2% to €6.00/m², up from €5.30/m². The five-year average of €5.52/m² was exceeded by 17.8% in 2023.

REALOGIS media contact:
Silke Westermann
Senior public relations specialist
Tel: +49/211/53 88 3-440
e-mail: s.westermann@shcommunication.de

REALOGIS company contact:
REALOGIS Holding GmbH
Silja Schuppler
Marketing
Rundfunkplatz 4, 80335 Munich
Tel: +49/89/51 55 69 17
e-mail: s.schuppler@realogis.de
www.realogis.de

REALOGIS. No. 1 for industrial and logistics properties

The REALOGIS Group is Germany’s leading player for the consulting and brokering of industrial, logistics and commercial properties. Founded in 2005 as a pioneer for the asset class of logistics and industry, the owner-operated group has enjoyed healthy growth, is crisis-resistant and knows the German market like no other. In 2022 Realogis generated nearly 1.25 million m² of usable space alone in the letting segment (preliminary result). The net commission revenue of all services in the financial year 2022 are EUR 22.74 million (preliminary result).

In 2021, REALOGIS also won the German Real Estate Prize in the “Commercial Player” category, which honours companies for their outstanding commitment, creativity, innovative strength and sustainability.

Realogis is represented in the country’s seven top logistics locations of Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich and Stuttgart, while a dedicated organisational unit ensures transparency in around 15 additional regional logistics markets. 70 real estate professionals advise national and international companies from the fields of logistics, e-commerce, retail and industry as well as private and institutional investors. Quick, flexible, regional, customer-oriented and with a high volume of transactions.

REALOGIS four core competencies are arranging highly creditworthy tenants for new and existing properties, assisting investors with property investments and project development of greenfields and brownfields, outstanding service for locating or selling sites, and the development and implementation of holistic property strategies.

In short, REALOGIS creates more room for its customers’ success in every sense. Further information: https://www.realogis.de/