STRONG END TO THE YEAR, BUT BELOW AVERAGE OVERALL
With take-up of around 224,000 m², the Cologne office market was unable to match the previous year's result (-33%) nor the ten-year average (-25%) in 2023. However, it is pleasing that there was a significant market recovery in the fourth quarter: around 74,000 m² was registered in the final quarter, making the last three months by far the strongest period of the year in terms of take-up. The high volume at the end of the year is due to two major lettings of more than 10,000 m², both concluded in the fourth quarter. These include the letting of the insurance group DEVK of 14,000 m² in the Rheinpark-Metropole office property in Deutz and the contract signed by the IHK Cologne for 13,000 m² in Cologne city centre. Apart from individual large contracts, however, smaller lettings are the most important drivers on the office markets in the cathedral city, as in other top locations. This observation is supported by the fact that over 60% of take-up was generated by agreements in the categories up to 2,000 m². In terms of the distribution of the total volume across the submarkets, City stood out in 2023 (81,700 m²), ahead of the equally sought-after office market zones of Ehrenfeld/Braunsfeld (26,800 m²), Ossendorf/Nippes (26,300 m²) and Deutz (22,700 m²).