HIH Real Estate (HIH) was able to build on its good letting performance from the previous year in the first half of 2024. Thanks to comprehensive asset management with active letting management, rental agreements for around 152,000 square metres were concluded in the first six months. New contracts were concluded for around 44,900 square metres, which corresponds to a share of 29.5 percent. The 107,100 square metres (70.5 percent) were renewals of existing contracts. The majority of rental agreements were for office space (around 76,500 square metres). Retail space came in second place (58,500 square metres), followed by lettings in the health and care sector (around 8,100 square metres).
Thanks to its proximity to tenants, intensive advisory services and high-quality fit-out of the space, HIH was able to let around 109,200 square metres, or 71.8 percent, in Germany alone, 45,000 square metres of which were let in the top 7 cities. A total of around 42,800 square metres were let abroad, with the largest submarkets in the UK (11,800 square metres), Spain (11,700 square metres) and Austria (6,000 square metres). In the first six months of this year, 32 rental agreements for large spaces over 1,000 square metres were concluded, eight of which were new lettings.
Frank Kindermann, Head of Asset Management at HIH Real Estate, comments: “The strong performance in the first half of 2024 shows that we have succeeded in increasing the attractiveness of the properties we manage for tenants. With our value-oriented asset management, we are achieving a very high level of satisfaction among our existing tenants. The renewals also reflect the success of our ongoing tenant communication through asset and letting management.”
The largest new letting in Germany is an office space of 6,560 square metres (including 750 square metres of storage space) in MĂŒnster, which was let to the University of MĂŒnster. Other significant new lettings in Germany include a studio space of 4,200 square metres in the U-Boot-Halle in Hanover to Benefit dritte Betriebsgesellschaft mbH. In Stuttgart, following the letting of 5,300 square metres (vehicle registration and driving licence office) to the state capital of Stuttgart at the end of 2023, a further 3,000 square metres of office space (social welfare office) was let at Löwentorbogen 11-13.
The largest lease extension in Germany relates to the retail chain Kaufland, which extended its lease for 5,300 square metres in Herten. Other significant extensions include 4,900 square metres of office space (including 220 square metres of archive space) with GebĂ€udewirtschaft der Stadt Köln in âMinoritenhofâ, Hohe Strasse 113-115 in Cologne and 4,850 square metres of office space (including 290 square metres of storage space) with De’Longhi Deutschland in City Gate, Neu-Isenburg.
The largest extensions were concluded in other European countries: In Glasgow, UK, the department stores’ chain TK Maxx extended its lease for 6,300 square metres of retail space. In the White House office property in Budapest, the lease was extended as part of a three-party agreement for 6,100 square metres with Instant Offices and a British car manufacturer.
Malte WallschlĂ€ger, Head of Asset Management International, explains: “We have also succeeded in achieving very good letting performance in other European countries thanks to our extensive market knowledge and strong local presence with our international branches. Our premise of being close to our tenants, especially in times of economic challenges, and offering flexible solutions in line with current requirements are among the particularly valuable factors of our collaboration for our customers, even beyond Germany.”
