The industrial and logistics property market in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) demonstrated remarkable resilience in the first half of 2026. Despite a challenging economic environment, take-up of around 527,800 square metres was achieved, which is almost on par with the previous year's level. This development underscores the fundamental stability of the sector in the region.
The sub-markets of Cologne and Düsseldorf showed particular dynamism. In Cologne, a significant increase in take-up of 67 per cent to approximately 136,100 square metres was registered. Düsseldorf recorded a growth of 35 per cent, achieving take-up of 85,700 square metres. In the Ruhr region, take-up amounted to 261,800 square metres. These figures are based on a current analysis by the globally active property services provider CBRE.
Imad El Akrouche, Team Leader Industrial & Logistics NRW at CBRE, stated that the NRW logistics market proved robust despite the economic challenges. The high take-up in Cologne was primarily attributed to the availability of previously committed space, a result that had already been anticipated for the first half of 2025 due to the shortage of space at that time. It is observed that newly created spaces are rapidly absorbed again, indicating a consistently high demand for short-term available logistics space.
The big-box vacancy rate in the sub-markets remains accordingly low. In Düsseldorf and the Ruhr region, a decrease in vacancy to 2.9 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively was recorded. The Cologne market showed a slight increase to 2.4 per cent. The big-box property segment in Mönchengladbach is almost fully let. Mr El Akrouche highlighted that the completion of development projects in Cologne and Düsseldorf is bringing clear signs of recovery, as many new-build projects are let before their completion or find a user immediately after completion.
Prime rents remained stable in most sub-markets. In Düsseldorf, the prime rent held steady at 8.90 EUR per square metre. In Cologne, there was also no change, with a value of 8.80 EUR per square metre. The Ruhr region experienced a slight increase from 7.90 EUR to 8.00 EUR per square metre. Mönchengladbach was the only sub-market to record a significant increase from 7.20 EUR to 7.50 EUR per square metre, due to the increasing shortage of available space. Demand continues to be driven significantly by international companies, particularly from Asia and the e-commerce sector.
Sarina Schekahn, Head of Industrial & Logistics Leasing, looks optimistically at the remainder of the year. Numerous new-build projects in North Rhine-Westphalia are nearing completion or are already at this stage and are therefore available to potential tenants. Demand for modern logistics space, especially in established locations with good transport links, remains solid. Despite the general economic conditions, many companies continue to pursue expansion and optimisation, meaning that sustained high market activity is expected in the second half of the year.
