Flexibility Is An Asset
Company Properties on Groß-Berliner Damm
Adlershof has traditionally been associated with science, high-technology and media. However, many medium-size businesses have found a home here as well. Especially the north-western part of Adlershof, turned to the centre of Berlin, magically attracts small to medium sized enterprises, says Martin Czaja of project developer BEOS.
The company has been operating here since 2008. Since 2010, BEOS has been active as Asset Manager of two property complexes for a specialised real estate fund. Today, flexibility is a quality required of people in both their private and professional lives. This also holds in the real estate sector. Here, flexibility means adaptability by third parties. “Our building complexes in Adlershof on Groß-Berliner Damm and Segelfliegerdamm best prove the fact that it pays to offer areas for multi-purpose use,“ Czaja explains.
“An impressive brick structure, the main building of the commercial complex on Groß-Berliner Damm used to be the tower building of Germany’s first airplane landing field,“ Czaja recounts what many are unaware of. It was opened in 1909, even before Tempelhof airport. “Today, the building is used, among others, by the THW, Germany’s Federal Agency for Technical Relief. THW is one of many tenants who profit from the conversion of existing properties.“ According to Czaja, the relatively low rents are one advantage: “Due to the low rent level in relation to property and building costs, in Adlershof and Berlin the construction of new production sites is generally worthwhile only for those businesses which will subsequently use the buildings themselves.“
However, there are many who only want to rent property, “mainly small to medium size businesses who appreciate flexibility not only with regard to properties, but also contracts.“ It is this particular group of tenants that BEOS have been addressing throughout Germany. Of course, there are tenants who move away again, but this doesn’t seem to trouble Czaja, since the demand is already huge. Moreover, infrastructural improvements such as the extension of the tramway line along Groß-Berliner Damm and the possible conversion of the Schöneweide depot into a regular S-Bahn station could make rental objects even more attractive for potential users.
New customer profiles could become relevant, too: “Property flexibility i.e., the adaptability by third parties, will facilitate a future conversion of storage areas into offices or of production sites into laboratories. BEOS are already planning such conversions in cooperation with interested tenants from the technology sector.