BNP Paribas Real Estate Investment Management (REIM) Germany has sold an office property in Heidelberg from a fund and thus realised the value appreciation generated by the positive development of the city's office market in the past few years. The almost fully let complex, which features a well-diversified mix of tenants, is used mainly as an office building. It is located in Heidelberg's Bergheim district, in the direct vicinity of the river Neckar, northwest of the city centre. The buyer and seller have agreed to maintain confidentiality regarding the price.
Built in 1992, the property has a total area of almost 14,000m², of which nearly 13,000m² comprises office premises, catering and commercial space, together with underground parking facilities. Thanks for instance to its excellent location and ideal transport connections, it has an occupancy rate of 98.5%.
“With our systematic asset management and our proven management approach, we have been able to increase this property's value quite significantly. A contributory factor is that employee numbers in Heidelberg have been increasing much more rapidly than the available office space – and so for some years now, the city's small and stable office market, which is mainly shaped by owner-occupiers, has provided scope for obtaining top rents," said Reinhard Mattern, CEO of BNP Paribas REIM Germany.
Heidelberg is one of the most attractive business locations in the Rhine-Neckar region and is mostly characterised by the service and commercial sectors. After the withdrawal of 8,000 US soldiers in 2015, the tight situation in the city’s residential real estate market eased considerably. Since then, the vacated premises have increasingly been attracting office staff and other white-collar workers.
