Potsdam Office Lease Renewal Highlights Stability Amid Retail Shifts

Sonar Real Estate has extended the lease with the Federal Agency for Real Estate (BImA) for roughly 8,000 sq m of offices at Behlertstraße 3A in Potsdam. Sonar oversees the asset on behalf of a pan-European investment manager. The four-storey building, completed in 1993 with around 11,000 sq m of space, is fully let. Walburg Rechtsanwälte advised the landlord during the negotiations.

The transaction comes as Potsdam’s city-centre retail continues to revolve around the pedestrianised Brandenburger Straße, where leasing activity has been visible in 2025. In February, Lührmann brokered a new store letting to Thalia on Brandenburger Straße 57, underscoring ongoing demand for prime, high-footfall frontages.

City-led mixed-use development is also progressing. In Potsdamer Mitte, the Kreativ-Quartier is scheduled to begin handovers at the end of 2025, ultimately adding about 25,000 sq m of rental space (around 15,000 sq m for cultural and creative uses) adjacent to key central-area footfall generators. This pipeline is expected to support surrounding high-street and service retail.

Tourism remains a structural demand driver for Potsdam’s retailers. A new 2025 study cited by the local chamber (IHK) links the city’s palaces and gardens to above-average value creation and employment, reinforcing the role of visitor flows in sustaining central retail trade.

Against the national backdrop, Germany’s retail investment market was comparatively resilient in H1 2025: CBRE reports ~€3 billion in retail transactions, making retail the strongest commercial asset class by volume after residential, even as total activity softened year-on-year. Leasing fundamentals also appear steadier: JLL notes high space turnover in H1 2025 with textiles and food as leading categories and easing availability in most “Big 9” markets, trends that typically filter into regional centres such as Potsdam through tenant expansion and refurbishment demand. Pan-European indicators show prime high-street rents largely stable in Q2 2025.

Local market snapshots from the city and chamber highlight the concentration of retail stock and purchasing power in the core, with Brandenburger Straße remaining the prime strip for visibility and footfall. While some published city statistics reference 2022 baselines, they remain directionally consistent with 2025 observations on tenant mix and centrality; current listings data reinforce the continued positioning of Brandenburger Straße as the top rental location.

Overall, the BImA lease renewal underlines stable occupier demand in Potsdam’s professional and public-sector ecosystem, while the retail core benefits from steady tourism-led footfall, selective new lettings on Brandenburger Straße, and incoming city-centre mixed-use supply by late 2025. If you want, I can add a short data box with current asking-rent ranges for Brandenburger Straße (from active listings) and a one-paragraph outlook for 2026.