Mit 22,4 Millionen Übernachtungen im Jahr 2011 hat Berlin seinen eigenen Rekord vom Vorjahr um 7,5 Prozent übertroffen. Die Zahl der Gäste stieg im gleichen Zeitraum auf fast 9,9 Millionen. Wie das Amt für Statistik Berlin-Brandenburg mitteilt, ist dies ein Anstieg um 9 Prozent gegenüber 2010. Die durchschnittliche Aufenthaltsdauer lag unverändert bei 2,3 Tagen.

Die Zahl ausländischer Gäste stieg um 9,9 Prozent auf nunmehr 3,6 Millionen (Inlandsgäste: 6,3 Millionen, +8,5 Prozent). Kräftige Zuwächse gab es nicht nur bei den traditionell starken Herkunftsländern, sondern beispielsweise auch bei Besuchern aus Island (+64,1 Prozent), Russland (+32,7 Prozent) und Indien (+32,4 Prozent). Dagegen ging die Zahl der Gäste aus Griechenland (–18 Prozent) und Portugal (–12 Prozent) deutlich zurück.

ANH Hausbesitz wants to create over 20,000 sqm of loft office space on Gutenbergstrasse/Englische Strasse near Berlin’s Tiergarten commuter rail station. What is now “The Box at the Beach” club, on an around 8,000 sqm site on the banks of Spree River, is to be converted to create 7,000 sqm of gross floor area. The building with a current floor area of about 2,000 sqm is to have a total rental area of 5,100 sqm with 1,300 sqm per story after the reconstruction with an estimated volume of €10mn. Commencement of construction is targeted by ANH for the end of the year. An additional gross floor area of 16,000 sqm is planned for the remainder of the site. A more detailed description of the new building is still not available, a spokesperson for ANH told TD. She said that urban development and usage details must still be clarified with the city, adding that construction costs for the new building, which are expected to “be at least double” that of redeveloping the “Box,” depend on this.

Transaction volumes across German residential property portfolios of more than 50 units increased by 44% year-on-year to €6.12 billion in 2011, new research from CBRE has revealed. The number of traded residential units also increased by 27% to around 92,000 units within 194 transactions, indicating that the market for large portfolios of over 1,000 units has regained momentum. The demand for residential units in Berlin was particularly strong. The federal capital traded around €2.3 billion and more than 32,300 residential units last year, which accounts for 37% of the registered investment volumes and 37% of all residential units in Germany. As a result of the large transaction volumes and high-end development projects in Berlin, the average price per m² increased to €1,033.

CBRE attributes the run on German housing stock to the impact of the European sovereign debt crisis, which is driving German and international institutional investors towards tangible assets and the country’s stable residential market.

Konstantin Lüttger, Head of Residential Investment, CBRE Germany, said: “German residential is regarded as a secure investment at a time when the European sovereign debt market is in crisis and international capital markets are volatile. This has resulted in a strong year for the country’s housing industry. Developers have benefitted from a strong demand for individual sales as well as capital investments, not least because rents are increasing in both large and prosperous medium-sized cities and university towns where there is a shortage of supply. The confidence of both national and international investors in the German residential market is clearly reflected in last year’s impressive trading levels.”

Listed property companies dominated the investment market with an overall volume of 32%. In conjunction with closed-end investment vehicles, private investors were also very active and accounted for more than 13%. Investments were also made by open-ended (special) real estate funds (13%) as well as the public sector (10%).

Domestic investors accounted for €4.35 billion (more than 71%) of the overall investment figure. They were followed by investors from the USA (5.7%), Sweden (4.2%) and Austria (3.4%).

Source: CBRE

A shopping center with ca. 65,000 sqm of gross floor area for 120 stores is being planned for an area previously used as parking lot next to Berlin's "O2 World." The firm behind the project called "SSB – Spree Shopping Berlin" is CKV Immobilien GmbH seated in Munich. The center is to be built between the multi-purpose hall and Warschauer Brücke bridge and will have a two-story underground garage with about 1,000 parking spaces. The designs were drafted by nps Tchoban Voss. A preliminary contract has been signed by CKV and the property's owner, the Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG). A CKV spokesperson told TD that the firm was not ready to announce either the investment volume or the date when construction will start. The plans will be formally presented at the district's urban planning department meeting on Wednesday.