Germany’s financial hub Frankfurt is positioning itself as a ‘globalisation hotspot’ in its bid to attract international investors in different sectors.
The German city is well placed to benefit from Brexit but its ambitions are wider, delegates heard at the PropertyEU Frankfurt and the Rhein/Main Area investment briefing, which was held at Mipim in March.
‘Frankfurt will be a hotspot for globalisation’, said Eric Menges, president and CEO of FrankfurtRheinMain, the association which represents the third largest metropolitan area in Germany and is co-owned by the city of Frankfurt and the counties and municipalities within a thirty-minute radius from the city.
‘We hope that British bankers will come, but Frankfurt is so much more than the financial centre of Germany,’ said Thomas Beyerle, managing director of Catella Property Valuation. ‘It is at the centre of a perfect storm, because it has a positive mix of sectors that are all growing. Just think how important the airport is, and the logistics and mixed-use clusters that are springing up around the airport.’
Life sciences and data centres
Some of the business from London will move to Frankfurt and other cities in the next two years, before Brexit happens, to ensure a seamless transition. ‘The number of enquiries has picked up substantially, and we are working hard to maximise opportunities and to make sure we get our fair share,’ said Menges. ‘But we also expect to see more activity from other sectors like automotive and life sciences, strong sectors in the UK that have close links to the EU which may now be cut. We are also getting a lot of requests for data centres, which will be in demand as data protection will be a key issue with Brexit.’
Last year Germany overtook the UK for the first time in terms of real estate investment volumes, according to figures from Real Capital Analytics (RCA). The stability of the market, and of the country, is very attractive to investors in these uncertain times, panellists agreed.
‘The demand for Germany is there but Frankfurt has that little bit extra and should shout it out a little more,’ said Beyerle. ‘From a real estate point of view we have the highest rents, the highest take-ups and all the positive things.’
