AEW Advises CDC Investissement Immobilier on Hamburg Urban Logistics Acquisition from Mercurius Industrial Properties GmbH
CDC Investissement Immobilier, the asset management subsidiary of French public financial institution Caisse des Dépôts, has acquired a fully let urban logistics campus in Hamburg's Billbrook district from Frankfurt-based developer Mercurius Industrial Properties GmbH, the firm announced Sept. 2. AEW, one of the world's largest real estate investment and asset managers, advised CDC Investissement Immobilier on the off-market acquisition and will assume responsibility for ongoing asset management.
Asset Overview: Dual-Tenant Campus in Hamburg-Billbrook
The acquisition comprises two buildings totaling approximately 14,000 square meters of lettable space at Borsigstraße 11, 22113 Hamburg-Billbrook. The centerpiece is a newly developed, approximately 11,000-square-meter Grade A urban logistics facility built to modern technical standards and targeting DGNB Gold sustainability certification. The building serves as a production, engineering, and warehouse facility for its primary tenant, a blue-chip intralogistics solutions specialist operating under a 15-year fixed-term lease. The building, known as the Still Centre of Competence Mechatronics, comprises approximately 8,200 square meters of production space and 2,600 square meters of offices, and the primary tenant is STILL GmbH, a Hamburg-based forklift and intralogistics manufacturer.
Adjacent to the new building is an existing 3,000-square-meter warehouse let on a long-term lease to a German logistics services provider. The existing structure carries potential for further development and value creation, according to CDC Investissement Immobilier. Together, the two buildings form a fully occupied, dual-tenant campus anchored by long-term leases from industrial and logistics occupiers.
Billbrook: Hamburg's Second-Largest Industrial Hub
Billbrook is Hamburg's second-largest industrial hub after the city's port and forms part of the largest contiguous industrial area in Northern Germany outside the port, accommodating more than 1,000 companies across approximately 770 hectares. The campus at Borsigstraße 11 offers direct access to the A1 and A25 motorways as well as the B5 road connecting to the Port of Hamburg. Hamburg's city center lies approximately 15 minutes away by car, and approximately 1.2 million people can be reached within a 30-minute drive. Bus and S-Bahn services near the property provide additional accessibility for employees.
Hamburg's broader infrastructure profile — which includes Europe's third-largest port, a leading rail freight terminal, and extensive road networks — underpins the city's position as a major European logistics gateway and supports sustained occupier demand for well-located industrial space.
CDC's Sixth German Investment; AEW to Manage Asset
The transaction marks CDC Investissement Immobilier's sixth investment in Germany, executed on behalf of Caisse des Dépôts. The deal reflects the firm's focus on core assets offering secure, long-term income streams for a public institutional investor. The fully let campus, anchored by a 15-year fixed-term lease to a blue-chip tenant, provides a long weighted average unexpired lease term backed by industrial and logistics credit.
AEW's role spans both the advisory and operational dimensions of the deal: the firm advised CDC Investissement Immobilier on the off-market acquisition process and will take charge of asset management following closing. The off-market nature of the transaction reflects the continued scarcity of core urban logistics product in supply-constrained German infill markets.
Prime net initial yields for Hamburg logistics assets have hovered in the range of approximately 3.8 to 4.1 percent in the 2025–2026 period, moderating from sub-3.5 percent peaks recorded in 2021–2022 as higher interest rates recalibrated pricing across European logistics markets.
Advisers
CDC Investissement Immobilier and AEW were advised by Noerr, TA Europe, and Nova Ambiente. Mercurius Industrial Properties GmbH was advised by RPT Rechtsanwälte and CBRE.
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