The JUNiCKE Group, an established real estate investor focused on logistics and light industrial properties as well as company settlements in northern and eastern Germany, has announced its intention to expand its portfolio. As part of this strategy, suitable halls and commercial plots are being sought in defined growth regions. The search profile primarily includes locations in Hamburg, Hanover, Braunschweig, Berlin, Wolfsburg, Magdeburg, Halle/Leipzig, and the Kassel/Göttingen region. This geographical focus underscores the strategic alignment with economically relevant centres and their surrounding areas.
The group is concentrating on existing properties with a rental area of at least 5,000 square metres and plots from 8,000 square metres upwards. Crucial for selection are high rental demand in the respective micro-location and concrete opportunities for further property value development. This can include building reserves, optimisations in the rental structure, or the development of additional usage options. Explicit attention is paid to ensuring that the zoning plan permits commercial or industrial use and that the proportion of office and social areas does not exceed 15 per cent. Hereditary building rights (Erbbaurechte) and partial ownership are excluded from acquisition.
Focus on development potential and stable market conditions
Julius Hendrich Junicke, managing partner of the JUNiCKE Group, explained the acquisition strategy. He emphasised that the search is not exclusively for immaculate properties, but rather for assets with substance and a clearly comprehensible development perspective. Decisive factors are the long-term suitability of a location for production, storage or logistics, as well as the identification of unused potential. This reflects a precise and future-oriented investment philosophy that looks beyond the current state.
Despite a phase of economic dampening, the market for corporate real estate shows remarkable stability. Market Report Number 22 from the Initiative Unternehmensimmobilien, published in March, confirmed robust demand for space. Investors continue to act selectively in this environment. For the JUNiCKE Group, this results in a focus on assets whose quality is not solely defined by their year of construction or current occupancy rate, but by their intrinsic and developable potential.
Strategic Options: Sale and Rent Back
In addition to traditional acquisition transactions, the JUNiCKE Group also examines Sale and Rent Back deals. In this type of transaction, a company sells its operationally used property and then rents it back on a long-term basis. This allows for the release of capital, previously tied up in land and buildings, for investments in operational business, without having to abandon the location.
Carl Jobst Junicke, also a managing partner of the JUNiCKE Group, explained the advantages of this approach. He stated that many medium-sized companies need capital for machinery, digitalisation, or growth, while significant funds are tied up in their operational properties. Sale and Rent Back can create the necessary financial leeway in such cases. Prerequisites for this are a sustainable rental structure and a property that remains economically viable over a long period. The management of the JUNiCKE Group was available for discussions with owners, companies, brokers, and project developers at EXPO REAL in Munich at stand C1.410.
