Highly dynamic office and commercial location Offenbach-Kaiserlei
From the City of Offenbach am Main's perspective, the Kaiserlei area at the interface to Frankfurt is the central element of Offenbach's further development into a high-quality office and commercial location. According to the Economic Development Agency, a high level of economic dynamism has already been achieved at the location in recent years - and thus even before the conversion of the Kaiserlei traffic junction planned for 2016.
In addition to the major relocation of Hyundai Europe and Hyundai Germany, Siemens has moved into a new location within the area, Alpha House has been built, McDonalds has set up its headquarters for south-west Germany there, a Chinese investor group has taken over the briefly vacant hotel building and Logic House has been established. "Germany- and world-famous recording studios have set up shop there," reports Jürgen Amberger, Head of Business Development Offenbach. "This has developed into a focal point of the regional music industry."
Other important dynamics include the sale of the former weather service building to a new owner and the plans of a Berlin investor to develop the former KWU site as a mixed-use area. "All of the new investors will bring their properties to the market, which we expect to boost the value of the entire Kaiserlei area," says Amberger. "Demand has been good for years, but the problem is that many old office buildings first need to be converted and revitalized." It can then take some time before they can be marketed. "And there is still new space to come with the demolition of the Kaiserlei traffic circle. This will also generate further momentum."
From the point of view of the economic development agency, it is particularly pleasing that more than 5,000 new jobs have been created at the Kaiserlei site since 1992. "We have also succeeded in doing this because we have been able to retain companies that would otherwise have turned their backs on Offenbach." One example is Honeywell Building Solutions GmbH, which has swapped its old location for a new one on Kaiserlei. The old building has also already found a new owner.
As Amberger emphasizes, Offenbach is always regarded as part of the Frankfurt office market by major estate agents and rating agencies. "We are on the periphery of Frankfurt, but have been able to establish a price level that is in some cases significantly higher than other peripheral locations in the neighboring metropolis." In Offenbach, Kaiserlei is at the top of the list with average commercial rents of EUR 9, together with Offenbach city center. Commercial areas such as Mühlheimer Strasse, Sprendlinger Landstrasse and Waldhof are significantly lower at EUR 5 to 7. And at 12 euros, Frankfurt's Ostend is not much higher than the Kaiserlei area. "It is clear that the old office buildings in particular yield little rent, but the situation is completely different for modern new buildings," concludes Amberger. "The bottom line is that we are a peripheral location with high quality, which is also reflected in the price."