“The market does not have any large-scale new-build developments – in either the speculative or the built-to-suit segment. This is also hampering the ongoing development of companies in the retail, manufacturing and logistics sectors that want to expand or consolidate in ESG-compliant properties,” says Bülent Alemdag, Managing Director of Realogis Immobilien Düsseldorf GmbH, which is responsible for all three of NRW’s top markets.

The last time that take-up by all market participants fell below the 1 million m² mark was in 2018 (971,000 m²). After 753,000 m² in 2017, 2023 was the second-lowest year as a whole on Realogis’ records.

Decline in new-build utilisation of approximately 30%
Lettings of existing properties took the lead in 2023, accounting for take-up of 505,600 m² or 57.1% (2022: 555,688 m² or 53.7%), a year-on-year decrease of around 50,000 m² (down 9%). Rentals and owner-occupancy in new-builds accounted for just 261,800 m² or 29.6% overall (2022: 370,900 m² or 35.9%) and, down by around 110,000 m² or 29.4%, were largely responsible for what was a weak year overall on the NRW market. Brownfields accounted for 118,200 m² or 13.3% (2022: 107,440 m²), making them the only category to achieve growth with an increase of 10,760 m² or 10%.

Sub-market rankings: Ruhr area still number 1
The NRW sub-market with the highest take-up was once again the Ruhr area with 450,440 m² or 50.9% (2022: 519,430 m² or 50.2%). One in every two square metres of take-up on the three top NRW logistics and commercial property sub-markets was located in this region in 2023.

Take-up in Düsseldorf amounted to 267,100 m² or 30.2% in 2023 (2022: 265,200 m² or 25.6%), followed by the Cologne sub-market at 168,100 m² or 19%.

Big box properties accounted for more than two thirds of total take-up, i.e. 597,000 m² or 67.4% (2022: 720,000 m² or 69.6%). Properties not allocated to either big box or business parks came in second at 216,100 m² or 24.4% (2022: 234,000 m² or 22.6%). Business parks again ranked third at 72,500 m² or 8.2% (2022: 79,895 m² or 7.7%). The biggest year-on-year difference is the lack of lettings or owner-occupancy in big box properties, which declined by 123,000 m². Other properties were down by just 7,395 m² and business parks by 17,938 m².

At 853,400 m² or 96.4%, the logistics and commercial property market in NRW was once again predominantly a tenants’ market (2022: 895,130 m² or 86.6%). Owner-occupier contracts remained rare, representing just 32,200 m² or 3.6% of the market. This is also true of the 2022 comparative period, when owner-occupiers accounted for 138,900 m² or 13.4% of market share.

Sector ranking: Logistics/distribution claims half of take-up
In the top sub-markets of NRW – Cologne, the Ruhr area and Düsseldorf – the logistics/distribution industry once again accounted for the lion’s share of all new leases with 420,900 m² or 47.5% (2022: 466,820 m² or 45.1%, down 10%).

Out of all sectors, the retail sector saw the sharpest decline with a drop of 205,000 m² or 51.1% to 196,000 m² or 22.1%, after 400,474 m² or 38.7% in 2022. This means that take-up was only around half of the previous year’s level, and the shortfall on the average for the past five years of 55.6% also reflects the high level of restraint in the sector.

The biggest contribution to take-up within the retail category was made by traditional retail with 114,700 m² or 58.5% (2022: 177,300 m² or 44.3%, down 35%). Companies in the e-commerce sector accounted for just 81,300 m² or 41.5% (2022: 223,170 m² or 55.7%, down 64%).

In third place and therefore moving up one place was the miscellaneous “Other” category at 146,200 m² or 16.5%, up from 50,610 m² or 4.9%. Virtually tripling to 95,500 m², this was the most significant increase of all sectors. Manufacturing is currently in last place at 122,500 m² or 13.8% (2022: 116,110 m² or 11.2%).

Large areas continue to dominate
The commercial and logistics property owner-occupier and rental market in NRW is still dominated by large premises. Almost 70% of take up, or 598,800 m², is accounted for by the category of 10,001 m² and above. However, this size category – as already outlined in the building classification – has seen by far the sharpest decline, falling by around 200,000 m² from 797,600 m² or 77.1% in 2022. Take-up in 2023 was around a quarter lower.

The category of larger to large spaces between 5,001 and 10,000 m² accounts for the second-largest share at 138,800 m² or 15.7%. Up from around 100,000 m² in 2022, this marks an increase of around 38,800 m² or 38%.

Spaces between 3,001 and 5,000 m² are in third place at 73,000 m² or 8.2% (2022: 52,000 m² or 5%). Small to medium-sized premises of between 1,000 and 3,000 m² are in fourth place with 67,800 m² or 7.7% (2022: 61,760 m² or 6%), while micro spaces of less than 1,000 m² remain in last place with 7,200 m² or 0.8% (2022: 21,930 m² or 2.1%).

Prime rent in Düsseldorf increases by 15.4%
Düsseldorf continues to be the most expensive sub-market for prime rents, with a new high of EUR 8.25/m² (up 15.4% from EUR 7.15/m²). This is followed by Cologne at EUR 8.00/m² (up 14.3% from EUR 7.00/m²) and the Ruhr area at EUR 7.25/m² (up 11.5% from EUR 6.50/m²).

The Düsseldorf market area has the highest average rent at EUR 6.50/m² (up 8.3% from EUR 6.00/m²). Close behind are Cologne at EUR 6.30/m² (up 5% from EUR 6.00/m²) and the Ruhr area at EUR 6.10/m² (up 16.2% from EUR 5.25/m²).

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/