With no demand for office space in Leipzig, Brigitte Roth, head of research at Blumenauer Immobilien says an office property market no longer exists.
With an office stock of 2.5m m2, the city has a vacancy rate of between 35% and 37.5%. However, the most recent investigation by the Leipzig town planning authority has revealed that there is a total of 3.3 million m2 of office space, so vacancy could be as high as 40%.
Blumenauer says take-up amounted to only 100,000m2 last year which consultant Müller International says this figure is nearer 96,000m2.
In 1993 rents in top locations were €22.5 (DM45) per m2 a month and now stand at between €7-10 (DM14-20) per m2 a month. On the outskirts the average is €5 (DM10) per m2 a month.
Handelsblatt, 9 April 1999, page 43
