Management summary
For the preparation of the commercial space monitoring
The aim of the annual commercial space monitoring for the Hannover Region as a business location is to record, process and evaluate commercial space turnover and the supply of available and planned commercial and industrial space.
The monitoring is carried out in close cooperation with the cities and municipalities of the Hannover Region. In addition to ongoing cooperation in the area of settlement management, "guidelines for commercial space development" are also drawn up at regular intervals together with regional planning and the municipalities in the sense of a framework for action for medium-term regional space development.
Only through joint, municipally coordinated land development can a market-driven supply of land be mobilized in the long term. The increasing shortage of land in recent years makes it clear that even more attention needs to be paid to the use of brownfield and inner-city development potential.
To this end, the regional assembly adopted a Regional Commercial Investment Program (REGIP) back in 2019. The aim of the REGIP is not only to support local authorities in the planning and development of additional commercial space, but above all to promote sustainable land development and the revitalization of brownfield sites.
The nationwide trend must also be taken into account here. According to data from real estate consultancy Savills, the transaction volume of commercial properties across all types of use in 2023 was 60% lower than in the previous year. Transactions in the office property sector fell by 77% in this period, industrial and logistics properties by 46% and development sites by 30%.
The total take-up of commercial properties ready for construction in 2023 amounts to 34.6 ha, a significant decrease compared to 2022 (81.8 ha). The figure is below the volume of the coronavirus year 2021 (46 ha) and below the long-term average of 61 ha.
In the data series going back to 1992, only the year 2003 shows a lower take-up of 30.6 ha. Looking at the number of sales cases, 2023 has the lowest value in the data series with 55 cases.
Although this development is also likely to reflect an increasingly scarce supply of space, its main causes appear to be the development of interest rates in 2023 in general and the development of construction interest rates and the decreasing availability of construction capacity in particular.
In addition, only one large sale with an area of over 10 ha took place in the reporting year.
Olaf Mahlstedt The state capital of Hanover recorded the highest take-up with 15.7 ha, followed by Wedemark (4.5 ha), Lehrte (2.9 ha) and Neustadt (1.7 ha). The municipalities with the most sales cases are the state capital of Hanover with eleven cases, followed by Neustadt with six cases and Isernhagen and Lehrte with five cases each.
- The focus of take-up by size category in 2023 will be on space up to 5,000 sqm at just under 78%, which is slightly above the long-term average of 75%.
- The average price of all properties sold in 2023 was € 134/sqm (previous year: € 114/sqm)
Olaf Mahlstedt At 43%, the supra-regional share of in quiries for commercial properties has risen significantly compared to the previous year (29%). In terms of usage groups, logistics, freight forwarders and haulage companies took first place with 20%, followed by industry and manufacturing with 11%, trades, (vehicle) workshops and petrol stations with 11% and leisure and healthcare services as well as the construction industry with 8% each.
At 622 ha, the supply of commercial space (as at March 2024) has fallen further compared to the previous year (663 ha). Over the last ten years, the supply has decreased by 31 %. In terms of marketability, the supply is divided into
- 45 ha of immediately marketable B-plan areas (developed, municipal property),
- 126 ha of B-plan areas that can be marketed later (not developed and/or privately owned),
- 451 ha of F-plan areas (without legally binding B-plan).
In terms of possible uses, industrial sites ( GI sites) are of particular interest to project development and logistics companies due to their suitability for three-shift or night-time operations. The potential area of GI sites in F and B plans, excluding brownfield sites, is 43 ha (previous year: 44 ha).
In the Hannover Region, there are currently ten larger properties (88 ha in total) that can be classified as potentially reusable brownfield sites . Around two thirds of these brownfield sites are located in the state capital Hannover. Reasons for the current vacancy include contaminated sites and/or old buildings that make reuse difficult.
In addition to the currently intended new designations of commercial areas with B-plan or F-plan designation, preview areas in the order of approx. 526 ha are under discussion in the municipalities.
Based on the commercial space turnover of the last ten years, the arithmetical range of the commercial space supply of the B-plan areas was determined in years . In 15 (previous year: 16) of the 21 municipalities, the range of available space is below the critical five-year limit, a period that is required on average for the (over)planning and development of new F-plan or preview areas.
Burgdorf, Hemmingen, Seelze, Wennigsen and Wunstorf currently have no commercial space with a legally binding development plan. As in the previous year, the arithmetical range must be classified as critical, especially for the location types logistics, services and knowledge and technology-oriented industries.
Guidelines for commercial space development
The Hannover Region has developed the following guidelines for commercial space development together with the cities and municipalities:
- Securing a supply of commercial space for all municipalities with a calculated range of at least five years as a basic requirement ,
- Mobilization of additional commercial areas at the focal points of the regional spatial planning program (RROP) ,
- Creation of key locations for large-scale industrial, production and logistics companies of sufficient size for supra-regional marketing at locations close to the highway,
- Mobilization of underutilized inner development sites in existing areas,
- Revitalization of brownfield sites to limit the consumption of open space.
To implement the guidelines, the Hannover Region adopted the Regional Commercial Space Investment Program (REGIP) in 2019, among other things, to provide financial support to municipalities for regionally significant development measures.
The aim is to implement measures for the revitalization of brownfield sites or redevelopment measures in existing commercial areas in particular. The prerequisites for funding are sustainability criteria and minimum standards of urban planning , such as rainwater management and soil protection, urban climate and biodiversity, energy supply from renewable energies and sustainable mobility.