TOM 02 2024

T
TOPS
M
OF THE MONTH
TOMO
RETAIL REAL ESTATE
TOPS
OF THE
MONTH
Essential News About The Players In In
The Retail Real Property Estate Market In in Germany
THE HOTTEST DEALS +++
INTERVIEWS +++ STATEMENTS
+++ PARTICULARS +++
ANALYSES +++ PROJECTS
presented by HI-HEUTE.DE
February 2024
According to the BTE, sales of clothing and textiles have risen to 67.4 billion euros.
Symbolic image: Depositphotos/Artur Verkhovetskiy
Clothing and textiles sector
increases turnover
Slightly above pre-corona level at 0.3 percent
According to initial projections
by BTE Handelsverband
Textil Schuhe Lederwaren, retail
sales of clothing and household
and home textiles rose
by around one percent or 650
million euros to 67.4 billion
euros including VAT last year.
„However, with an increase of
0.3%, sales are only slightly
above the pre-corona level of
2019,“ reports BTE Managing
Director Axel Augustin. Brickand-mortar
clothing retailers
in particular performed above
average last year. According
to BTE estimates, sales at boutiques,
fashion stores and textile
chains rose by three to four
percent, but are still around five
percent below 2019.
The opposite was true for specialist
retailers of household
and home textiles, which have
seen a single-digit drop in sales
since their boom phase during
the pandemic. „We are also
observing major differences
across the retail sector depending
on location or business
concept,“ states Augustin. „The
spectrum ranges from record
sales to business closures or insolvencies
due to the sharp rise
in costs and major asset losses
during the enforced coronavirus
closures.“
Mail order loses
out
Mail order and online retail lost
sales last year. However, due to
the strong upswing in the coronavirus
years 2020 and 2021,
BTE estimates that it is around
30 percent higher than in 2019.
Augustin: „We currently expect
a market share of just under 28
percent for the entire mail order
business with clothing as well as
household and home textiles.“
Textile and fashion retailers‘
sales expectations for 2024 are
very cautious. According to a
recent BTE survey, only three
out of ten participants expect a
significant increase in sales for
the current year.
A third see themselves at around
the same level as 2023, while
four out of ten fear losses of at
least one percent. „If costs continue
to rise and the state reclaims
the bridging aid paid out,
many retailers may soon have to
close their businesses,“ warns
Augustin.

Page 2
URW with successful
performance in Germany
The letting strategy is also working in Austria
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield
(URW) currently operates 21
locations in the Germany and
Austria region: 19 in Germany,
eight of which are in the
Group‘s own portfolio, and
two in Austria. A total of 714
rental agreements were concluded
for these 21 locations
last year.
The average vacancy rate for
the core locations in the portfolio
around Westfield Centro in
Oberhausen, Ruhr Park in Bochum,
Westfield Shopping City
Süd in Vösendorf in the greater
Vienna area and Westfield Donau
Zentrum in Vienna is less
than two percent.
Management on
course for growth
In addition, the mixed-use project
Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier,
which URW is
developing in Hamburg‘s HafenCity
and which will open on
April 25, has also seen a lot of
progress. The occupancy rate
for the retail, gastronomy and
leisure sectors is now a good
90 percent. The letting strategy
established by the company
years ago is proving its worth,
particularly in the current market
situation.
The URW Real Estate Management
division, which bundles
the management of retail properties
for investor partners on
the German market, continues
to grow. In 2023, the management
contracts for the WIL-
MA (owned by Ivanhoé Cambridge)
and Gropius Passagen
NEWS
Preparations for the Boda Borg Questing concept are underway at
Ruhr Park in Bochum - open-ing in spring.
Photo: Daniel Schäfer / URW
(Nuveen/URW) locations in
Berlin, the Düsseldorf Arcaden
(Hines) and the Köln Arcaden,
Spandau Arcaden in Berlin and
Riem Arcaden in Munich (Union
Investment) were extended
on a long-term basis. The division
accounts for almost half
of the rental space and rental
agreements in URW‘s German
portfolio and is aiming for consistent
growth in both Germany
and Austria.
February 2024
Intersport International
sets record result in
2023
Intersport International Corporation
(IIC), the international umbrella
organization of the national
Intersport associations based
in Switzerland, closed the year
2023 with global retail sales of
13.7 billion euros. Although this
did not represent growth, it was
exactly the same record result as
the previous year, the association
emphasizes, pointing to the
generally challenging business
environment in the sports retail
sector. While 2023 started with a
strong first quarter, the combination
of the difficult economic and
geopolitical climate, ongoing
challenges in the supply chain,
high inventory levels and rising
operating costs weakened the
economy in sports retail.
Pepco ceases
business operations
in Austria
After just over two years, the
retail group Pepco Group NV
is discontinuing its business activities
in Austria. The group,
which is active in Austria with
73 locations of the discounter of
the same name, has come to the
conclusion after an ongoing and
thorough performance review
that this market does not meet
expectations, the Pepco Group
announced at the end of february.
Mall of Berlin welcomes several new tenants
HGHI occupies space from fashion to gastronomy
New tenants enrich the Mall
of Berlin. Most recently,
HGHI Holding GmbH welcomed
Colloseum Fashion.
The label opened a 450 square
meter store in the shopping
center at Leipziger Platz in February.
Colloseum Fashion is a
German fashion brand that specializes
in trendy and affordable
looks for young women. In addition
to Germany, the company
now also has stores in other
European countries. Colloseum
Fashion‘s trademark is a mix of
casual street style and feminine
elements. The collections include
clothing, shoes and accessories
for various occasions, from
casual outfits to more chic pieces
for special occasions.
The CNICK goods label was
also added in February. The
company presented the very first
smart ring made of precious metal,
which enables contactless
payment and can be used as a
car key. Subway made its debut
in the Mall of Berlin at the end
of 2023 with customized sandwiches,
salads and wraps. The
branch is located in the food
court on the second floor.
New tenants have recently enriched the Mall of Berlin.
Photo: Pixabay / Piet van de Weil
In the immediate vicinity of
sights such as the Brandenburg
Gate, Reichstag and Holocaust
Memorial, the Mall of Berlin
offers an urban mix of shopping,
restaurants, hotels, entertainment,
offices and living.
The shopping and experience
center, which opened in 2014 on
the former site of the Wertheim
department store, comprises a
total of around 76,000 square
meters of retail space, around
12,000 square meters of hotel
space and 30,000 square meters
of residential space. With more
than 300 stores, one of the largest
food courts in Germany and
an extensive event program, the
Mall of Berlin attracts around
22 million visitors from Germany
and abroad every year.

Page 3
TOP STATEMENT OF THE MONTH February 2024
TOP STATEMENT
February
„Top shopping centers
are attractively priced
on the capital market
today, especially compared
to other real
estate assets such as
office, residential or
logistics. They have
not experienced the
interest-driven boom
of recent years, which
is why no corresponding
corrections are
pending here.“
Volker Kraft, Managing Director
of ECE Real Estate, in a
statement for the German trade
publication „Immobilien Zeitung“

Integrated approach
to real estate
We find solid platforms from which we can create sound investments, all around the
world. From shopping to public or living spaces, from management to turnkey projects,
we are the most far-sighted partner when developing innovative concepts.
www.sonaesierra.com

Page 5 ANALYSES February 2024
Hope for an upturn in retail investments
After a weak year, conditions are improving according to CBRE
In 2023, the German retail
real estate investment market
recorded a transaction volume
of 5.4 billion euros. Compared
to 2022, this is a decrease
of 43%. The top seven
cities accounted for 33% of
the transaction volume, eight
percentage points more than
in 2022, according to a re-cent
analysis by CBRE.
„While the retail sector remained
stable in 2023 despite the
mild recession, the general restraint
on the real estate investment
market was also reflected
in retail properties,“ says Jan
Schönherr, Head of Retail Investment
at CBRE in Germany.
„In particular, the sharp rise in
fi-nancing costs and yields on
alternative investments slowed
the German real estate investment
market from its usual high
momentum last year,“ explains
Dr. Jan Linsin, Head of Research
at CBRE in Germany.
The recent decline in financing
interest rates and more moderate
yields on fixed-interest securities
provide more planning
security and make real estate
investments more attractive.
Local suppliers
top again
Once again, properties in the
retail and food market segment,
including convenience stores
and retail parks, accounted for
the largest share of transactions.
They accounted for 59% of the
transaction volume - eleven
percentage points more than in
2022. This means that these retail
property types are as popular
with investors as they were in
2021, when they reached a peak
of 60%. One-A retail properties
were also able to increase their
share. The acquisition of shares
in various trophy properties
such as KaDeWe, the MYND &
Galeria Weltstadthaus ensemble
and eight Signa Prime Selection
department stores contributed to
this high share. Shopping centers,
on the other hand, played
virtually no role in 2023. Their
share of the already declining
transac-tion volume amounted
to just under five percent. In the
previous year, this figure was
still 29% due to various special
effects as well as individual
According to the BTE, sales of clothing and textiles have risen to 67.4 billion euros.
Symbolic image: Depositphotos / Artur Verkhovetskiy
lighthouse transactions. „While
there was hardly any momentum
in the shopping center market
in 2023, we expect to see
significantly greater movement
in the transaction market for
shopping centers in 2024,“ says
Schönherr.
In 2023, international investors
were able to significantly increase
their share of the transaction
market by 22 percentage points
to 53%. This underlines the fact
that investors from abroad in
particular are convinced of the
resilient fundamentals of the
German economy and its real
es-tate sector. „We assume that
international interest in German
retail real estate will continue in
2024. This is because the retail
sector already showed great stability
in 2023, the growth of online
retail has slowed and yields
have become more attractive
again for international investors,“
says Schönherr.
Yields have
increased
„Net acquisition yields for retail
properties increased in all segments
in 2023, in line with the
other real estate asset classes,“
explains Anne Gimpel, Team
Leader Valuation Advisory Services
at CBRE in Germany. The
prime yield for single-A retail
properties in the top seven cities
averaged 4.84% at the end
of 2023. Compared to the end of
2022, this represents an increase
of 0.95 percentage points. 0.3
percentage points were attributable
to the fourth quarter of
2023.
More momentum
expected
In comparison, the prime yields
of shopping centers in A and B
locations rose slightly mo-re
strongly in the last quarter: by
0.4 and 0.35 percentage points
to 5.9% and 7.2% respectively.
Over 2023 as a whole, the values
therefore rose by 0.8 and
0.7 percentage points respectively.
Neither grocery stores nor
retail parks recorded an increase
in prime yields in the second
half of 2023. Over the course
of the year as a whole, however,
the prime yield of food markets
rose by 0.4 percentage points
to 4.7% and that of retail parks
by 0.7 percentage points to 5%.
Never-theless, there are signs of
stabilization here and in the net
initial yields for first-class DIY
stores, which rose by one percentage
point over the year to
currently 5.75%.
According to CBRE, 2024 can
be expected to get off to a rather
subdued start at the beginning
of the year, with transaction
activity gaining momentum as
the year progresses. Investors
acti-ve in the retail sector will
be offered attractive investment
opportunities in all risk structures
and sub-asset classes over
the year as a whole, Schönherr
expects.
„It is currently difficult to predict
what volume the investment
market for retail properties will
achieve for the year as a whole.
This is because it largely depends
on the success of refinancing
and the extent to which and
when national institutional investors
will significantly increase
their willingness to invest
again.“ „The ECB‘s tightening
of monetary policy is increasingly
taking effect, meaning
that the cycle of interest rate hikes
could have reached a peak
and provide more planning certainty
for investment decisions.
In contrast to many other market
participants, however, we
warn against assuming that key
interest rates will be cut soon,
as the ECB continues to sound
cautious - it seems convinced
of the persistence of inflation,“
Linsin points out. „Against the
backdrop of further stabilization
in financing conditions, real estate
yields should have largely
left their up-ward trend behind
them by 2024,“ predicts Gimpel.

URBAN CREATORS.
Architecture | Development & Project Management
European Council of Shopping Places (ECSP) Awards: Commendation for Best Renovation/Expansion for centres between 15.000 – 45.000 sqm

Page 7 RETAIL February 2024
The furniture industry is currently struggling with declining sales.
Symbolic image: Unsplash / Michelle Williams
Challenging times
for the furniture industry
IFH and BBE predict another difficult year
Market saturation, shift in
spending and rising prices:
The general conditions were
very challenging for the furniture
industry in 2023. After
a good year in 2022 with sales
growth of almost ten percent,
the industry lost 3.6 percent in
2023 - despite significant price
increases - and thus stands at
22.6 billion euros.
The reason for the slump: the
shift in consumer spending due
to the continuing very high
energy prices and cost of living.
In addition, furniture is becoming
increasingly expensive
due to higher production costs
for raw materials, energy and
transportation. An average piece
of furniture costs around 20
percent more today than it did in
2020. These and other findings
are contained in the new „Furniture
Sector Report“ published
by IFH COLOGNE and BBE
Handelsberatung. The market
experts are forecasting another
challenging year for 2024 with
a negative sales trend.
Significant decline
in sales
„With the significant decline in
sales in 2023 and simultaneous
price increases, the furniture
trade is currently under pressure.
The aim is to compensate
for productivity losses by optimizing
sales performance or
reducing space and to secure
important contribution margins
through these frequency-promoting
alternative offers,“ says
Dr Philipp Hoog, Member of
the Management Board & Head
of Strategy Consulting BBE
Handelsberatung, assessing the
data.
Large chain stores still account
for the largest share of the furniture
retail market volume
(38.0%), followed by specialist
furniture retailers (27.9%).
Both have expanded their online
activities since the pandemic
and have thus slowed down the
growth of pure mail order companies
and internet pure players.
Specialist retailers are holding
their own like in hardly any other
market.
Stationary retailers
score points online
Due to the successful online
activities of brick-and-mortar
retailers, the online share of
the furniture market increased
in 2023 - despite the decline in
sales in the industry as a whole -
and now stands at 13.7%.
The outlook for further market
development in 2024 and 2025
remains cautious. The negative
economic outlook will also affect
the furniture trade.
Market growth in
2026 at the earliest
The market experts from IFH
KÖLN and BBE Handelsberatung
anticipate a further nominal
decline in sales of -2.6%
in the medium forecast variant.
Slight market growth is not
expected until 2026. „Private
households are unsettled and
are in savings mode. Spending
on furniture is being postponed
or people are turning to secondhand
goods. This trend will continue
in 2024. To make matters
worse, the construction industry
has also been hit by the crisis.
However, inflation is calming
down and there is light on the
horizon,“ says Christoph Lamsfuß,
Senior Consultant at IFH
COLOGNE.

Page 8 INTERVIEW February 2024
„Formerly a future location,
now a future location!“
The huge „Behrensufer Berlin“ project: Interview with CEO Robert Sparjcar
Deutsche Immobilien Entwicklungs
AG (DIEAG) is
planning BE-U, an innovative
model district for industry, on
the ten-hectare site on Behrens-Ufer,
which is located
in Berlin‘s south-east boom
corridor in the triangle formed
by BER Airport, Tesla
and Berlin Mitte. Around
12,000 people are expected
to work there in future, primarily
in the life sciences,
laboratory and light industry
sectors. Innovative spaces for
retail, events and gastronomy
are also part of the plans.
At the end of October, DIE-
AG celebrated the symbolic
ground-breaking ceremony
and project launch at BE-U.
In the TOM-interview Robert
Sprajcar, CEO of DIEAG,
provides details on the vision
and development of the Berlin
lighthouse project.
TOM: Mr Sprajcar, you are
responsible for a billion-euro
project on Behrens-Ufer in
the south-east of Berlin with
a wide variety of realizations.
How did the idea come about
and what is the vision behind
it?
Robert Sprajcar: We were
inspired by the history of the
site. In 1895, the world‘s first
three-phase power station laid
the foundations not only for
the electrification of Berlin, but
also for the establishment of innovative
production companies.
Over 100 years ago, the entire
Oberschöneweide industrial
belt in south-east Berlin was already
ahead of the curve. Back
then a future location, today a
future location. The progressive
ideas of merging functionality
and aesthetics, productivity and
social issues, as advocated by
the Werkbund at the beginning
of the 20th century, are still reflected
today in the unique industrial
architecture of the site
by Peter Behrens. We are building
on this and thinking about
neighborhood design from the
perspective of the users, i.e. the
people. This inevitably results
Robert Sprajcar, CEO of DIEAG
in usage and socially relevant
development directions that ensure
that Behrens-Ufer is developed,
converted and expanded
as a future-proof urban technology
quarter. Our vision is therefore
also to build nothing less
than one of the world‘s most
sustainable commercial districts,
where people are at the
center.
TOM: How big is your team
at the moment, and from
which areas of work is it recruited?
Robert Sprajcar: Our core
team within DIEAG consists of
around 20 people, all of whom
come from a wide range of disciplines,
including civil engineering,
architecture, urban
development, communication,
politics, energy, vertical farming,
art and culture as well as
social science research. We also
need this professional diversity
in order to guarantee the implementation
of our vision. Furthermore,
we naturally have experienced
partners in planning,
construction and project development
as well as competent
contacts in the authorities and
in civil society, without whose
constructive contribution such a
project would not work.
TOM: What do you think is
exceptional about this project?
Robert Sprajcar: The holistic
nature of the project development
approach and our vision
Photo: DIEAG
are what make it exceptional.
The vision is based on the
exemplary combination of various
elements from urban planning,
business, science, art and
culture, including community
building for the participatory
further development of the district,
which is of course already
having an impact on the project
development in the early
implementation phase. Finally,
the sheer scale of the project
as a complete neighborhood
development also enables us to
synergistically interlink individual
technical systems to create
holistic cycles, e.g. in sustainable
energy supply, cycle management
and neighborhood
logistics.
TOM: What about the imple-

Page 9 INTERVIEW February 2024
Huge: The innovative model district for a wide variety of businesses will cover around ten hectares.
Visualization: Peter Rüssmann & DIEfabrik GmbH for DIEAG
mentation of the envisaged
retail and restaurant space?
Robert Sprajcar: We are planning
a total of 20,000 square
meters for event, retail and
gastronomy uses. A maximum
of 3,000 sqm of retail space is
planned, primarily with sustainable
local suppliers and service
providers. Concrete usage
approaches are in place and
corresponding tenants are already
in the expansion planning
stage. As consumer behaviour
has changed due to the coronavirus
pandemic and digitalization,
flexible office and multifunctional
retail concepts are
planned.
We have also set up so-called
„innovation LABs“ as dedicated
working groups with the
participation of various experts
to network the BE-U-specific
requirements with innovative
approaches from science,
business, politics, administration
and civil society. These
LABs work on the four key
neighbourhood-related topics,
namely „urban development“,
„new energy“, „food“ and „arts
& culture“.
The urban development LAB
focuses on pressing, futureoriented
topics and trends in
urban development, such as urban
transformation, sustainable
mobility, quality of life in urban
areas and civil society participation
in the project. The LAB
develops concrete best practices
and innovative solutions directly
in our neighborhood.
The new energy LAB involves
experts from the European Parliament,
the Berlin Senate and
companies that have been recruited
for the implementation
of the sustainable energy concept
and, in particular, inner-city
deep geothermal energy. For
the food LAB, successful Berlin
restaurateurs and developers
from the field of vertical farming
are working together on a
completely new, unique gastronomy
and supply concept.
Last but not least, there is the
arts & culture LAB. In our view,
art and culture are key elements
for the development of a vibrant
and diverse location, and
the events and concerts of the
LAB at BE-U are already being
enthusiastically received by a
diverse audience.
TOM: Nowadays, the sustainability/ESG
aspect plays a
central role in such construction
projects. How are you doing
justice to this at Behrens-
Ufer?
Robert Sprajcar: Our aim is
to create one of the most sustainable
neighborhoods in the
world. We have based our project
development approach on
ESG principles from the outset,
but we go far beyond the usual
standards. The usual sustainability
certifications are therefore
merely a windfall.
We combine sustainabilityoriented
approaches to building
physics and energy technology
with questions of use in
both the productive and social
sense and thus create an urban
quarter that is completely selfsufficient
in electricity, heating
and cooling from renewable
energy sources and offers the
highest quality of stay in the
entirely public outdoor area,
taking advantage of the natural
conditions on site (south-facing
orientation of the site, waterfront
location, district-related
economies of scale and synergy
effects, etc.).
We are building on existing
buildings and creating a model
district for the „smart city of
tomorrow“ with an urban mix
of uses - albeit without housing
- and short distances, a districtwide
integrated circular economy,
rainwater management and
much more.
TOM: When do you plan to
complete it? What are your
most difficult tasks and biggest
challenges along the
way?
Robert Sprajcar: Due to the
coronavirus, we expect to be
finished at the beginning of
2029. The biggest challenges
up to this point have been the
urban planning concept, which
we developed together with the
Treptow-Köpenick district office,
as well as the monument
protection concept, which was
developed with the Berlin State
Monument Office and the Lower
Monument Authority. In
particular, the integration of the
new construction projects into
the listed existing environment
was challenging, complex and
not trivial.
The comprehensive new planning
of the transport connections
and infrastructure is also
of central importance: we are
planning ferry connections on
the Spree in order to get to the
Berlin S-Bahn network on the
other side of the river more quickly.
The possibility of building a
bridge over the Spree in cooperation
with the city of Berlin is
also currently being examined.

The art of
investing
Tailor-made investments in German supermarkets
As real estate experts, we invest in grocery stores
and retail parks throughout Germany.
The advantage?
Financially very strong tenants and crisis-proof basic
supply ensure sustainable attractive returns for
investors.
20 years of experience in food retail
Excellent network
Working in partnership
Big plans? So do we.
Talk to us:
Jörn Burghardt • Managing Director
Phone: +49 (69) 756694334 • E-mail: j.burghardt@g-pep.com
GPEP GmbH · Hamburger Allee 26-28 · 60486 Frankfurt/Main GERMANY • www.g-pep.com

Page 11 NEWS February 2024
Tackle with a sense of proportion!
Interview with Barbara Possinke, Senior Partner at RKW Architektur + (Düsseldorf)
Major insolvencies in the
retail segment are making
headlines, construction costs
remain at a high level, and
then there is climate change,
which is pushing for change.
How can a transformation of
our city centers succeed under
these conditions? In an interview
with TOM, Barbara Possinke,
Senior Partner at RKW
Architektur +, pleads for decisive
- but well-considered -
action.
TOM: Ms Possinke, you practically
grew up building department
stores. What do you
see in your mind‘s eye when
you hear the words „Galeria“
or „KaDeWe“?
Barbara Possinke: Of course,
I continue to see the end of an
era that now seems to have reached
the premium segment. But
at the same time, I also see great
opportunities. The most important
thing is to take a very differentiated
approach and look at
each location and each property
very precisely and individually
- and not just in terms of visitor
flows and footfall figures. Then
we will see that retail can continue
to be worthwhile in some
A-locations, but perhaps not in
others. We must not have blinkers
on here.
TOM: What does that mean
for city centers then?
Barbara Possinke: As urban
planners, we have been observing
developments towards the
„15-minute city“ for some time
now. This can lead to a partial
decentralization in large cities,
which leads away from the classic
„one city centre concepts“
and strengthens individual district
cores for daily supply. But
this does not mean the end of
the city center!
TOM: Why not?
Barbara Possinke: I think we
have to look at it this way: because
we are not losing supply
there, but gaining space - space
for quality. If the supply shifts,
we can reduce individual traffic
there. This can create urban
spaces with a high quality of
stay - more green and open
spaces, more restaurants, more
Barbara Possinke, Senior Partner at RKW Architecture + Photo:
Sakotic-Sondermann (RKW)
places to see and be seen. After
all, these are the very factors -
alongside high-quality shopping
facilities - that score particularly
well in surveys when it comes to
the attractiveness of city centers.
TOM: This would also provide
a spatial opportunity to
better arm city centers against
climate change ...
Barbara Possinke: That‘s
right. This is the next big problem,
which is already showing
up in bright red on the heat
maps of many cities and which
urgently needs to be tackled. I
don‘t want to be alarmist here,
but it won‘t be long before we
can measure summer temperatures
of over 50° C in the highly
sealed, unshaded concrete landscapes
of many pedestrian zones.
This would make city centers
uninhabitable - and needs to
be repaired and adapted today.
And by „today“ I mean now.
TOM: What should we be doing?
Barbara Possinke: We urgently
need to unseal areas on a large
scale. We need to manage water
better - and this also applies to
heavy rainfall events and the
much-cited sponge city - and
we need to manage the local
climate. This means, for example,
planning windbreaks wisely
and providing much more and
appropriate greenery. That way,
even in 20 or 30 years‘ time, it
will still be pleasant to spend
time in the city center in midsummer.
TOM: But what will become
of the department stores?
Barbara Possinke: As I said,
I don‘t want to generalize. But
I think demolition would be
counterproductive in almost
every case - for many reasons.
As planners with strong retail
know-how and urban planning
expertise, we would always start
by investigating whether another
retail use might be possible
after all, perhaps with a different
concept or a mix of uses.
Or another revitalization: department
stores in particular,
with their large spans and load-bearing
ceilings, can be repurposed
in so many different
ways. Schools, laboratories or
libraries could move in, often
all that is needed are a few atriums.
Of course, I also see the
question of economic efficiency.
But here I would see a task for
the local authorities, the legislators,
who can provide support
through tax relief.
TOM: Or demolish and rebuild?
Barbara Possinke: Well, even
if everything else turns out to
be unrealistic, demolition is the
worst alternative from a resource
perspective alone. On the one
hand, it‘s about the gray energy
stored in the building, but on the
other hand it‘s also about social
sustainability - we need to
get out of the growth spiral that
has us building more and more,
even though so much has already
been built!
TOM: Can we still manage
to have liveable city centers -
with attractive retail?
Barbara Possinke: I think
that‘s not only desirable, but
also possible. In my vision, we
have the space for it because we
are drastically reducing rigid
automotive infrastructures with
their sealed surfaces in favor of
significantly improved public
transport, more cycle paths and
hubs for e-mobility. Because we
are letting cities breathe again,
with green spaces and inviting
restaurants and a good, varied
range of retail options tailored
to people‘s needs. Whether
this takes place in department
stores, former department stores
or completely different formats
must be decided on a case-bycase
basis. The main thing is
that we do it with a sense of proportion.
TOM: And who should drive
this transformation forward?
Barbara Possinke: That‘s a
very important point: no one can
solve such a huge task on their
own. We need large groups of
experts to think about all layers
of a city - from underground to
the rooftops. Or also: from the
subway and the pipeline construction
to the first floor level
with all the uses and public
spaces right up to the top floors.
In addition, we must not only
think vertically, but also horizontally
beyond the city center,
for example by consolidating
secondary locations and main
locations. And one last thing:
it takes time, it takes pragmatic
solutions without blinkers, and
it can only work together. So,
let‘s get to work!

Increase visibility, reduce risk
& enable team collaboration
within a single connected
solution
OPTIMISE RETAIL REVENUE
Yardi Elevate is designed for asset managers, leasing executives & operational
managers for all types of commercial real estate to enhance performance
• Drive new deals and enhance revenue
• Work with detailed lease and financial data in
real time
• Streamline forecasting & model scenarios
• Reduce friction & centralise team collaboration
• Minimise risk & increase value
+49 (0) 6131 14076 3
Learn with us at yardi.de/products/elevate
Get
the
details
©2022 Yardi Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Yardi, the Yardi logo, and all Yardi product names are trademarks of Yardi Systems, Inc.

Page 13 ANALYSES February 2024
Hahn Group draws
positive annual balance sheet
Occupancy rate increased and funds secured
The Hahn Group can look
back on a successful 2023 financial
year. As an asset and
investment manager, it achieved
stable asset growth in its
fund portfolios for the benefit
of its investors. The performance
of the Hahn real estate
funds benefited from strategic
sales, new lettings and numerous
rent increases.
CEO Thomas Kuhlmann explains:
„The asset class of supply-oriented
retail and mixeduse
properties once again
demonstrated its great resilience,
value stability and earnings
power in 2023. Despite the challenging
market environment,
we were able to increase rental
income across the entire portfolio
by around three percent on a
like-for-like basis and realized
additional income opportunities
for some funds through property
sales. The performance was
correspondingly positive: in the
private client business, around
30% of Hahn real estate funds
increased their distributions
compared to the previous year.
There were no declines in distributions.“
Two new retail
funds
In new business with private
investors, two new retail AIFs
were successfully launched in
2023: Pluswertfonds 178 and
Pluswertfonds 180 invest in a
local shopping center in Voerde
in North Rhine-Westphalia and
a retail park in Landshut, Bavaria.
Both real estate funds have
been very well received by customers.
Pluswertfonds 178 has
already been fully placed, and
Pluswertfonds 180, which was
only launched in December, is
expected to be fully marketed
by the end of the first quarter of
2024. The equity raised in 2023
amounted to a total of around 20
million euros. The transaction
volume in the private client and
institutional business amounted
to around EUR 216 million
(previous year: EUR 516 million).
Thomas Kuhlmann, CEO of the Hahn Group. Photo: Hahn Group
In the past two years, the Hahn
Group has increasingly realized
gains on sales for its clients
with its active management approach.
In 2022 and 2023, real
estate properties with a total
volume of around 630 million
euros were sold to third parties.
The gains on sales were significantly
higher than the purchase
prices. With its core-plus
investment approach, the Hahn
Group‘s first institutional real
estate fund, launched in 2008,
generated an average annual
return (IRR) of over seven percent
for investors over a term
of around 15 years. Thanks to a
letting performance of 108,000
square meters (previous year:
226,000 square meters), the
occupancy rate in the real estate
fund portfolio improved
to around 99% (previous year:
98%). Significant tenancy agreements
were extended in
Langelsheim (REWE), Wendelstein
and Amberg (both Kaufland)
and in Fulda (Obi), among
others. The properties in Langelsheim
and Bergneustadt were
successfully revitalized in the
course of re-letting in partnership
with the tenant REWE.
Focus on Manage
to Green
In the past financial year, Hahn
Property Management stepped
up sustainability measures in
the real estate portfolio as part
of the property-specific ESG
strategies. Thanks to strategic
partnerships with key tenants
and the introduction of innovative
operating models, new
PV installations were put into
operation and the charging station
infrastructure was further
expanded. By equipping the locations
with smart meters across
the board, the basis was also
created for systematically using
consumption data from the properties
for ESG optimization.
At the end of 2023, the Hahn
Group managed real estate assets
of over seven billion euros.
New investments
planned
Daniel Löhken, member of the
Management Board: „We expect
an increasingly stable investment
environment in 2024,
boosted by a downward trend
in interest rates. These conditions
open up good prospects for
security and yield-oriented investors.
Retail parks, hypermarkets,
DIY OPS stores F and THE mixed-use ONTH
properties remain very attractive
for tenants and investors
due to their solid and long-term
earnings prospects. Now is a
good time for new investments.
Numerous opportunities with
an attractive risk/return profile
are emerging on the investment
market. We are well positioned
to enable our investors to take
advantage of this environment.
Accordingly, we are planning to
launch new real estate funds and
make real estate investments
with a volume of at least 200
million euros in 2024.“
T
TOPS
O M
OF THE MONTH
TOM
TOPS
OF THE
RETAIL REAL ESTATE
Essential News About The Players In In
The Retail Real Property Estate Market In in Germany
IMPRINT
MONTH
Publisher:
Handelsimmobilien Heute Verlagsgesellschaft
mbH
Address:
Alexanderstraße 16
45130 Essen
Germany
Tel. 0049-201-874 55 28
Web: www.hi-heute.de
Mail: tom@hi-heute.de
Frequency of publication:
monthly
Circulation: approx. 5000 copies
sent by e-mail
Editorial team: Susanne Müller,
Thorsten Müller
Responsible in terms of press
law: Thorsten Müller
Layout: K4-PR, Essen
THE HOT
INTERVIE
+++ PART
ANALYSE
presente
March

PREMIUM ECO SERIES
50% LESS
ENERGY
same look & quality
WE MAKE PEOPLE HAPPY.
-50% *
FOR
MORE
INFO
*compared to the classic LED