Hamburg: URW partners with CBRE and Grossmann & Berger in the field of office leasing

Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) is planning 48,000 square metres of office space for the mixed-use project Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier and is therefore working with CBRE and Grossmann & Berger. The future offices are spread over four building complexes, each with individually designed areas and rooms, and offer a total of around 4,000 workstations overlooking Elbe river and the city centre.

“The office buildings at Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier fit perfectly into this vibrant location of the future, which stands for a dynamic combination of housing, working and living. Considered alone, the location and iconic architecture of the office buildings are already outstanding, but with the mixed-use district we are also creating the perfect environment to attract and inspire the talents of tomorrow. We will thus set new standards for exciting, innovative and infrastructurally optimally integrated office space. In an age of nomadic work and co-working, a company’s workplace must become a natural meeting point to enhance collaboration and create commitment. Thanks to our expertise in office innovation, interior design and technology, we have made this ambition possible,” explains Andreas Hohlmann, Managing Director Germany at Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield. “We are firmly convinced that the office product should be part of the mixed-use layout and are pleased that we have brought on board two competent and experienced partners for the leasing of the office space: CBRE and Grossmann & Berger”.

Leasing process already successfully started
“We have already been able to conduct a large number of talks with interested tenants in the past weeks – including major local and international customers. The attractiveness of the workplace and its environment is becoming increasingly important in the ‘War for Talents’. Not least of all, as the workplace is now also in competition with home office, there is increasing demand for district developments with a diversified range of services and leisure activities,” says Julian Zadeh, Head of Office Leasing Hamburg at CBRE.

Market analyses by CBRE show that the City’s office vacancy rate fell to a record low in the first nine months of 2020, ranging around 2.6 percent. In addition, Hamburg has the highest pre-letting rates for office developments of the German top 5 cities. More than 50 percent of the space to be created by the end of 2022 has already been pre-let. “New office space with a profile similar to that of the buildings in Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier is among the most sought-after,” adds Zadeh.

Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier completes HafenCity
The real estate service provider Grossmann & Berger is represented with a store on Überseeboulevard and experiencing the positive development of HafenCity at first hand.
“HafenCity has now become an office location on a par with the city centre in the perception of its users. Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier rounds off the heart of HafenCity towards the water and is the important, still missing, building block of the district. The radiance of its outstanding architecture and its direct connection to river Elbe make the quarter a new hotspot not only in HafenCity, but also in the Hamburg metropolitan region. The innovative office buildings offer their users not only state-of-the-art working environments, but also a high identification value,” adds Andreas Rehberg, Managing Director of Grossmann & Berger, member of German Property Partners (GPP).

Luv & Lee
The twin towers Luv & Lee, with over 20,100 square metres office space and a height of over 60 metres from the water, form the entrance to Westfield Hamburg-Übersequartier and thus to the heart of the urban district. 1,700 jobs will be created there, spread over 13 floors. The architects of UNStudio designed is flooded with natural light that reveals its vibrant interior life. Inside, the flexible floorplates with no fire partitioning walls, are designed to welcome new ways of working. A special highlight will be the 700 square meter Skybar in the Lee building.

The Yard
In a nod to Hamburg’s tradition as a prestigious trading port, The Yard with its red bricks presents itself as a new interpretation of the classic Kontorhaus buildings. The architecture firm Lederer Ragnarsdóttir Oei created large working spaces laid out around three green central courtyards. These inviting green oases foster communication and creativity of its occupants. Large glass facades allow natural light to flood the inner atriums and open the entire space. On two levels, 7,500 square meters of office space for 700 workstations will be created.

Skysegel
The French architect and urban planner Christian de Portzamparc is responsible for the design of the Skysegel building. With its 16 floors and 73 meters of height, the building located on the eastern edge of Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier will be the tallest building, the iconic landmark of the quarter. It resonates with Elbphilharmonie at the other end of HafenCity. The facade is cut into glass facets that catch the reflections of the lights from the shimmering river and the Hamburg sky. Designed to inspire, Skysegel interacts with the outside world and will offer breathtaking views to the 1,650 employees using these 21,180 square metres of flexible and beautifully lit workspaces.

All office buildings have specially allocated parking spaces in the underground car park, a total of around 370, as well as a large number of bicycle parking spaces. The towers Luv & Lee as well as Skysegel have received the BREEAM certification “Excellent” as well as the certification “Gold” of DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council). The Yard will be BREAM certificated with “Excellent” as well.

Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier: urban regeneration
In Westfield Hamburg-Überseequartier, a total of 14 individual buildings are being constructed, which will form a new lively destination in Hamburg with outstanding architecture and a unique mix of uses. Retail, entertainment concepts and more than 40 gastronomy units will be connected finely tuned with the offices, three hotels, a cruise terminal and a total of 650 apartments. The district is optimally integrated into the local infrastructure through its own subway station, bus lines directly at the quarter and various mobility services. The mixed-use district consists of a total area of 419,000 square meters and will be realised by Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield with an investment of over one billion euros until second half of 2023.

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