NAI apollo strengthens investment expertise in Munich

Johannes Stubenrauch, who has worked for NAI apollo since September 2015, is relocating from the owner-managed property consultancy’s headquarters in Frankfurt to Munich in order to expand the investment business in the southern German branch. The team at the Munich office will increase to five members following Stubenrauch’s arrival.

In his role as a senior consultant for NAI apollo, Stubenrauch has managed a total transaction volume of about €220 million. The track record of the 30-year-old property expert includes the Bohomian micro apartment building in Frankfurt and the iconic Wappenhalle in Munich — the arrival hall of the former Munich-Riem airport. Before joining NAI apollo, Stubenrauch, who is a native of Germany’s Franconia region, studied international real estate management at the University of Applied Sciences in Aschaffenburg. 

Thilo Hecht, managing partner and founder of NAI apollo in Munich, said: “In the investment business, we will initially focus on structured cold calling as we did in the early days with office lettings. Off-market core-plus and value-add transactions will be the priority, and here we work closely with a select group of buyside investors. Johannes Stubenrauch has already managed numerous transactions and will be an excellent addition to our team.”

NAI apollo still sees considerable potential in the Bavarian capital despite the high property prices. “The very good regional infrastructure is a particular strength of Munich and the surrounding area. This means that investments on the outskirts of the city and in the suburbs are also of interest, and we expect activity here to pick up over the coming months,” added Stubenrauch.

The Munich branch of NAI apollo was established around four years ago. Since then, the team has managed several large lettings, including to companies such as WeWork and Lufthansa, as well as investment transactions. Only in October, the agency negotiated the purchase of an 18,000-sqm office property called “sunsquare” in Kirchheim for Godewind.

“From the outset, the Munich branch has exceeded all profit and revenue expectations in every year of operation,” said Hecht. “We have moved beyond the start-up phase and are now focusing on further business growth. We have a strong funding base to support this growth, owing to the lean cost structure and high profitability of the Munich business. NAI apollo plans to recruit more staff in the city, particularly at senior and team leader level for investment and office letting.”

Read more … NAI apollo strengthens investment expertise in Munich

NAI apollo brokers leases for approx. 1,900 sqm of commercial space in Frankfurt and surrounding area

Owner-managed real estate consultancy NAI apollo has brokered lease contracts for around 1,900 sqm of office, retail and warehouse space at five locations in the Rhine-Main area.

 The largest individual lease concerns an almost 700-sqm warehouse unit in the Mörfelden industrial zone between Frankfurt and Darmstadt. The tenant of the property situated close to the motorway is Hagelschaden Douteil GmbH, which is active in the automobile industry. NAI apollo also advised an equipment construction company on the lease of about 600 sqm of office and warehouse space in the Wasserweg industrial area in Groß-Gerau. Otherwise, a company from the healthcare sector is renting around 250 sqm of office and retail space on Hebelstraße in a quiet location of Frankfurt’s Nordend district. In addition, NAI apollo brokered leases for two commercial spaces in Frankfurt with about 150 sqm apiece, one to an IT company at 5-7 Trakehner Straße in the Hauser industrial area of Frankfurt and another to an internist who is setting up a practice at 248, Eschersheimer Landstraße.

Read more … NAI apollo brokers leases for approx. 1,900 sqm of commercial space in Frankfurt and surrounding area

NAI apollo: Frankfurt am Main’s office lettings market in top form

• First-three-quarter take-up of 440,900 sqm one of best results since data collection began
• Growing number of deals signals positive market dynamics
• Banks, financial service providers and insurers dominate take-up activity
• Vacancies amount to only 826,000 sqm
• Rental prices characterised by further growth
• Outlook for 2018 as a whole: above-average space take-up, continuous reduction in vacancies and further rental price growth

 Frankfurt am Main, 1st October 2018 – The Frankfurt market for office space including Eschborn and Offenbach-Kaiserlei continued to perform strongly in the third quarter of 2018 following the extremely positive first half of the year, according to the latest analysis by owner-managed real estate consultancy NAI apollo – partner of the NAI apollo group. Space take-up by tenants and owner-occupiers reached 187,300 sqm, meaning that the period from July to September 2018 represents the strongest third quarter in the past ten years. The already very good result of the prior year was exceeded by 1.8 % (Q3 2017: 183,900 sqm). “Space take-up for the first three quarters of 2018 amounted to 440,900 sqm, which is one of the best results we have seen since we started to collect data. It has risen 2.0 % or 8,700 sqm above the very high previous year’s value,” said Radomir Vasilijevic, Director Office Letting at NAI apollo.

A year influenced by strong market dynamics

The number of deals provided even more tangible evidence of the strong market momentum, rising from 530 in the first three quarters of 2017 to 576. “We noted there were a high number of lease contract signings while lease renewals had less of an impact,” said Radomir Vasilijevic. At the end of the third quarter, renewals accounted for 36,000 sqm.

Compared to the very good previous year, the lettings volume was particularly influenced by an increase in the number of contract signings within the <1,000-sqm and 1,000 sqm-2,500sqm segments, at 12.5 % and 6.4 % respectively. The largest deals in the year to date include the rental by Commerzbank of more than 36,100 sqm in Cielo (100, Theodor-Heuss-Allee 100), the lease signed by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung for 24,000 sqm in a project development at 92, Europa-Allee, and the deal completed by Spaces for 9,200 sqm in Global Tower (32-36, Neue Mainzer Straße). NAI apollo acted as consultant to Spaces in the latter deal. 

Banks, financial service providers & insurers form the largest user group

“In the third quarter of 2018, a number of banks rented new premises. Thus the banking, financial services and insurance sector played an even stronger role than in the first half of the year, increasing their share from 20.2 % at the end of June to 25.4 % or 111,900 sqm,” said Dr. Konrad Kanzler, Head of Research at the NAI apollo group. As before, the construction and real estate sector, boosted by the Spaces contract, was ranked second and accounted for a 15.8 % market share (69,800 sqm) at the end of the third quarter. 

More than two thirds of space take-up took place in the Central Business District (CBD). The most significant sub-markets within the CBD are the banking district and City West, with market shares of 19.2 % (84,500 sqm) and 13.7 % (60,300 sqm) respectively. 

“Rental prices have continued to rise owing to high-priced rentals in project developments and other areas. Thus the prime rent increased by €0.50/sqm to €41.50/sqm compared to the previous quarter, and is only €0.50 below the peak value of the last 15 years. The space-weighted average rent increased by a further €0.10 on a quarterly basis to €21.50/sqm,” said Dr. Konrad Kanzler.

Vacancies fall further

The office completions volume amounted to 32,500 sqm for the third quarter of 2018, while almost the same volume (29,100 sqm) was removed from the office market. As a consequence, office stock was broadly unchanged at 11.34 million sqm. “For the fourth quarter of 2018, we expect additional 64,100 sqm to be completed. However, only 2,900 sqm of this volume is still available. In 2019, 180,200 sqm of office space will in all probability come onto the market. The pre-letting quota here stands at 49 %,” said Radomir Vasilijevic. 

The very positive lettings performance and high pre-letting quotas in project developments brought about a further significant decline in vacancies in the period from July to September 2018. “Market-active vacancies on the Frankfurt office space market — that is, office spaces that can be occupied within three months of the contract signing — fell by another 55,000 sqm to 826,000 sqm,” said Dr. Konrad Kanzler. The resulting vacancy rate is 7.3 %, which fell 0.5 percentage points within the last three months. 

Annual result expected to be far above average

“Upcoming lettings in the fourth quarter will help maintain the positive market development, and we expect to see above-average space take-up in 2018. At best, we will even experience one of the three strongest performances of the last 25 years. In line with this development, vacancies will continue to decline and rental prices will increase further,” summed up Radomir Vasilijevic.

Read more … NAI apollo: Frankfurt am Main’s office lettings market in top form

VIVANIUM takes over property management business of NAI apollo

Frankfurt, 03.09.2018 – VIVANIUM has acquired the property management business of owner-managed real estate consultancy NAI apollo. The property management specialist based in Heidelberg takes over the business activities of the NAI apollo property management division with effect from 1 September 2018. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
VIVANIUM, the owner-managed property management specialist that is active throughout Germany, is using the acquisition to expand its presence on the Frankfurt market. Dirk Tönges, managing partner of VIVANIUM, said: “The acquisition provides an ideal basis from which we can access the market in Frankfurt and the wider region. It opens up new acquisition channels as well as the opportunity to expand our portfolio in a long-term collaboration with NAI apollo.”
The transaction will enable NAI apollo to focus on its core business areas. Andreas Krone, CEO of NAI apollo, said: “Property management is facing major changes, such as those brought about by digitalisation, for example. VIVANIUM is a proven property management specialist and is able to address these challenges in a targeted way. We will make use of the transaction to strengthen our focus on business areas such as asset management, letting, investment and corporate finance, as well as the opportunities created by digitalisation.”

The property management unit of NAI apollo employs 15 people and manages a total of 25 buildings and 800,000 sqm of rental space. VIVANIUM will take over the unit’s mandates as well as its employees, who will continue to support customers from their current premises on Schillerstraße in Frankfurt. “Nothing will change for the customers,” said Dirk Tönges. “We will take over all operations and contracts in a seamless manner.”
Michael Frieling, authorised representative of VIVANIUM and managing director of VIVANIUM subsidiary Viva Dream, a joint venture with Dream Global Advisors, is taking over the management of the new VIVANIUM office in Frankfurt.

Read more … VIVANIUM takes over property management business of NAI apollo