Deal underscores demand for prime office products in central city locations
(Frankfurt am Main) – Hines, a global real estate investment manager, has achieved a significant leasing success for the Frankfurt-based portfolio real estate development ONE TWO ONE: The renowned management consultancy d-fine, which operates throughout Europe, will establish its new headquarters in the mixed-use project at Zeil 121. The company's current headquarters are currently still located at An der Hauptwache 7 and thus vis-à-vis about 200 meters from the new location.
The long-term lease covers around 5,250 square metres of rental space. Occupancy is scheduled for the second half of 2027. With d-fine's decision, around 90 percent of the office space in ONE TWO ONE is let. The tenants of the retail space in the property are the omni-channel bookseller Thalia and the Swiss chocolate manufacturer Läderach.
"d-fine's decision is a special milestone for ONE TWO ONE. It shows that our strategy is working: We are transforming an existing inner-city building into a high-quality, future-proof workplace that combines quality of stay, energy efficiency and sustainability requirements," says Emanuel Coskun, Senior Managing Director and Frankfurt Branch Manager at Hines.
Alexander Möll, Head of Northern & Central Europe at Hines, adds: "While the German office market as a whole continues to be characterised by uncertainty, we continue to see high demand for prime offices in central city centre locations. d-fine's decision in favor of ONE TWO ONE confirms what we are currently seeing in other locations: tenants are increasingly concentrating on top spaces with excellent accessibility. The establishment of d-fine's new headquarters is therefore a strong signal for the attractiveness of prime offices in exposed office locations in Germany."
"With the ONE TWO ONE, we will realize our vision of the d-fine office of the future. At our headquarters in Frankfurt, we thus fulfil the specific wishes of our customers, as well as those of our employees. Large, flexible conference areas are available for events and joint workshops with customers. Modernly equipped training areas are the basis for the permanent further training that the market expects from a company like d-fine. And finally, the innovative spatial concept for the project and work areas reflects the requirements of today's working world. Working together with personal contact in the office has its importance despite, or perhaps because of, the possibilities of home office and AI agents. Instead of a fixed assignment to offices or workplaces, the ONE TWO ONE enables us to use it dynamically, situationally. The ONE TWO ONE also convinced us because it transforms an existing building to a high standard and creates a working environment that combines central accessibility, quality of stay and sustainable building operation," says Dr. Egbert Schark, founding partner of d-fine.
With ONE TWO ONE, Hines is transforming an existing building at one of Frankfurt's most central locations into a future-proof mixed-use property. On around 10,850 square meters of usable space, an urban place is being created that combines high-frequency retail with high-quality office space. Generous room heights, loggias on each floor and a roof terrace of around 650 square metres with a community area and outdoor kitchen create a particularly attractive working environment with a high quality of stay – both inside and out. At the same time, the project stands for the sustainable further development of the existing building: an innovative energy concept enables fossil-free building operation after completion; the aim is to achieve DGNB certification in platinum.
The project is located in the immediate vicinity of the centrally located Hauptwache. The banking district, the old town and the main train station can be reached quickly and on foot from the location.
Hines was mandated by the owner – a German-based institutional investor – to revitalise and reposition the property as part of a service development contract. The lease to d-fine was advised by Colliers on the landlord's side and blackolive on the tenant's side.
