Axis of innovation: The office market in the southeast of Berlin is gaining in importance

The southeast axis of Berlin between Mediaspree and Adlershof is becoming increasingly important as an innovation corridor and office location. This is reported by representatives of Berliner Sparkasse, BAUWERT and immobilien-experten-ag. at an online press conference held yesterday by the consulting firm RUECKERCONSULT.

Marcus Buder, Head of Commercial Real Estate Financing at Berliner Sparkasse, cites the large-scale development potential with sometimes high synergies between the local companies, the expansion opportunities and the good availability of space as the main advantages of the location. Added to this is significantly lower rent level compared to the city center. “Adlershof has established itself as a location for research and technology companies, is very well connected to the route between the city center and the Capital Airport and still offers space for less than 20 euros per square meter,” says Buder. As a result, a diverse demand for different areas as well as rentals at a very stable level can be observed. The southeastern locations are thus proving to be vital space reserves in a market environment characterized by rising prices, for which Buder sees good prospects overall.

“Even if the debate about the home office is in full swing again, the office market continues to develop briskly: The take-up of office space has already recovered in 2021. In the meantime, it is becoming apparent that in the long run the home office will be a supplement to, but not a substitute, for working in the office,” explains the real estate expert Buder.  For the first time in the history of the Berlin office market, the prime rents in the fourth quarter of 2021 exceeded the 40-euro mark. “The average rent is developing towards 30 euros. The reason for this is that more and more renters are looking for top offices in the best locations. It is good that the vacancy rate in Berlin is normalizing at the same time thanks to the new completions. This means that those who are searching also have more options in the cheaper range,” Buder continues.

The Berliner Sparkasse is also following this trend: “The Berliner Sparkasse is itself drawn to the southeast of Berlin: In 2024, we will give up our current service center in Wedding and thus move one of our two central locations to Adlershof. In its search for contemporary working environments, the Berliner Sparkasse found what it was looking for in the Square 1 new construction project and will be renting 24,000 square meters. We look forward to this innovative neighborhood with a modern and open working environment, that will also go well with our demands for more sustainability.”

Rudower Chaussee is developing more and more into the Ku’damm of Adlershof
 The settlement of many companies in the southeast of Berlin is no coincidence. In recent years, Berlin project developers have launched a series of new projects between Mediaspree and Adlershof. One of the private players that have been active here for many years is immobilien-experten-ag., reports board member Mareike Lechner. The owner-managed company has been involved with the Adlershof location since the mid-90s of the past century and is currently developing three projects on the Rudower Chaussee, the main highway of Adlershof, with a total gross floor space of more than 150,000 square meters. In the meantime, nine of the 16 new office and commercial buildings as well as the campus parking garage have already been completed in the largest project of immobilien-experten-ag., the “Am Oktogon – Campus for Trade and Technology” comprising a gross floor space of 85,000 square meters in the final stage. The large shed roof hall in the middle of the campus was revitalized and provided with a PV roof-top system. Around 40,000 square meters of gross floor space have already been rented, says Lechner. “The current 69 campus tenants come from different sectors and some from very knowledge- and technology-intensive areas. They benefit from low new-build rent level compared to the competition, which is currently between 14.30 and 16.50 euros cold per square meter, the future-oriented environment and the excellent infrastructure and transport connection, in particular to the city highway. The Adlershof Science and Technology Park is also the best-connected place in within a radius of 1,000 kilometers, thanks to the high-performance fiber optic network and the 5G campus network, which is a clear locational advantage.” Completion of the campus is planned for 2025/26.

Further projects of immobilien-experten-ag. in Germany’s largest science and technology part are the OLC OFFICE LAB CAMPUS, an office complex with around 26,000 square meters of rental space and 218 underground parking spaces as well as the Leonardo Royal Hotel Berlin Adlershof.  In addition to the hotel space, the latter will have office, restaurant and retail space and will be built next to the OLC OFFICE LAB CAMPUS. The plots of land for this project were acquired after winning a concept procedure of the State of Berlin in 2017 and are located directly at the Adlershof S-Bahn station.

“In the OLC OFFICE LAB CAMPUS, the net cold rents start at 19.50 euros per square meter. Due to the well-thought-out building planning, in addition to office uses, uses are also possible as a showroom, for research and development, industry 4.0 and for the production of prototypes. In Adlershof, we regularly experience such tenant requirements for partial areas,” says Mareike Lechner. “The large-area column clearance, clear room heights of 3.05 or 3.60 meters as well as the cavity floors for the respectively necessary cabling ensure the required flexibility.” The project, which was realized together with the construction company Adolf Lupp GmbH + Co KG, is currently three months ahead of schedule and should be completed by the end of 2022/beginning of 2023.

Lechner likes to describe the Rudower Chaussee as Adlershof’s Ku’damm. The western end towards the Autobahn can be compared to Halensee in terms of location, the eastern end at the Adlershof S-Bahn station to the lively Breitscheidplatz.  The “Grand Challenges Center” will also be built on one of the last vacant lots of this main street of the technology park. In the 100-million-euro WISTA project, researchers, entrepreneurs and experts are to devote themselves to finding solutions to the major questions of the future from 2026/27. “This will further strengthen the Innovation corridor inner city – Adlershof, which will extend beyond the BER Airport in Brandenburg through the new Tesla Gigafactory. That holds a lot of future potential for our Berlin-Berlin-Brandenburg metropolitan region,” says Lechner.

BAUWERT develops former railway area
Also the Berlin district of Johannisthal is located in the innovation corridor north of Adlershof. Right next to the S-Bahn station of the same name, BAUWERT Aktiengesellschaft will be building “Campus Square 1” by 2026 with a total rental space of 140,000 square meters The ensemble is being designed by three multi-award-winning architectural firms – Eller + Eller, Tschoban Voss, Grüntuch Ernst – and the landscape planner Topotek 1 In addition to six office buildings, a hotel with long-stay apartments as well as smaller shops, cafés, restaurants and a dare care center are planned. Berliner Sparkasse already signed a first rental agreement at the end of 2020 for a total of 24,000 square meters.

“The campus creates an address that is as attractive as it is functional for modern companies that want to bring their employees more often from the home office to the office,” says BAUWERT board member Dr.Jürgen Leibfried. “In the outdoor facilities there are many opportunities for sports and relaxation as well as for informal work and inside the buildings we have also created spatial conditions to make everyday work flexible and varied.” Square 1 offers a flexible office concept with different room and building depths, representative lobby areas, modular team workspaces, roof terraces and loggias as well as the state-of-the-art technical equipment. Areas of up to 132,000 square meters are available.  

BAUWERT acquired the 6.8-hectare site from Deutsche Bahn at the end of 2017. The location offers a good connection to the Autobahn and to public transport. City-West and the Center can be reached in 20 minutes and the BER Airport in ten minutes.

The range of apartments in Johannisthal will also be supplemented by BAUWERT from 2024. The company is planning 1,500 apartments as well as 29,000 square meters of office space on the Segelfliegerdamm in the immediate vicinity of Square 1 and the Adlershof Science and Technology Park. “We would like to build an attractive mix of rental apartments, condominiums and student apartments there at the landscape park,” says Leibfried. In addition, BAUWERT is also active outside of Berlin on the development axis in the southeast. One example is the development in Wildau on the north bank of the Dahme, where BAUWERT is planning a district with 700 apartments and associated infrastructure. “Wildau is the municipality closest to BER, which is not affected by airport noise,” says Leibfried. “With its scenic surroundings, the small town is one of the most attractive places to live between the Tesla factory and the airport and could therefore benefit disproportionately from the economic upswing in the region.”


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