Demand for office space in Cologne remains consistently high. However, due to a lack of planning certainty in a challenging economic and geopolitical environment, many companies are hesitant to actually follow through on leasing decisions that are already well advanced. Instead of signing new leases, many tenants—after careful consideration—are opting to extend their existing leases or postponing their planned moves indefinitely.
Data as of 30 June 2026. Source: Angermann NRW Research, Cologne Office Market Report H1 2026.
| Office take-up Cologne, H1 2026 | approx. 74,000 sqm (H1 2025: 105,000 sqm, –30%) |
| 10-year average take-up (full year) | 281,000 sqm |
| Prime rent | €32.10/sqm (top rent: €37.00/sqm) |
| Average rent | €17.80/sqm (2025: €19.90/sqm) |
| Vacancy | 460,000 sqm, vacancy rate 5.6% (end of 2025: 450,000 sqm, 5.47%) |
| Completions H1 2026 | 14,400 sqm (2025: 112,000 sqm), project pipeline for the next three years: declining |
| Largest deal | Deutsche Bank, 7,000 sqm, Tunisstraße 19–23 |
| Forecast full year 2026 | take-up of around 160,000 sqm is realistic |
“The demand is there. What’s missing in many places is the planning certainty needed to make a binding decision,” says Alexander Wunderle, Managing Partner (Office & Investment) at Angermann NRW.
This reluctance to finalize deals is also affecting leasing performance: space take-up in the first half of 2026 totaled approximately 74,000 m², which was just under 30% below the previous year’s figure.
Companies with significant space requirements, in particular, are intensively exploring the market and conducting search processes that sometimes span months, and in some cases even years. Nevertheless, these processes currently rarely result in concrete deals, as many tenants ultimately decide to remain in their existing spaces. High-volume leases therefore remained the exception in the first half of the year. Market activity was once again dominated primarily by small- and medium-sized space leases: 48.7% of take-up came from deals up to 500 sqm, 32.6% from 500 to 2,000 sqm, 10.3% from 2,000 to 5,000 sqm and 9.0% from 5,000 to 8,000 sqm. There were no deals above 8,000 sqm in the first half of the year.
Geographically, demand continues to be clearly concentrated on central and well-connected locations. The city center, including Deutz, accounts for approximately 53% of space turnover. This makes this submarket by far the most important office location in Cologne. It is striking that rents here are noticeably higher than in other office hot spots. Thus, tenants do not automatically opt for less expensive locations.
“Anyone planning a relocation is primarily looking for quality, accessibility, and the location’s prestige. In short: location and quality trump price,” says Alexander Wunderle.
Figures in approx. €/sqm net rent plus service charges and VAT; market share = share of take-up.
| Submarket | Districts | Market share | Rent range | Ø rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cologne City Centre | City centre, Deutz | 53.00% | €11.00–37.00/sqm | €21.94/sqm |
| Cologne West | Weststadt, Braunsfeld, Ehrenfeld, Marsdorf, Lindenthal, Ossendorf, Bilderstöckchen | 20.16% | €7.00–23.00/sqm | €15.67/sqm |
| Cologne South | Zollstock, Rodenkirchen, Bayenthal | 8.73% | €9.50–25.00/sqm | €15.64/sqm |
| Cologne North | Butzweilerhof, Bickendorf, Longerich, Niehl, Riehl, Nippes | 8.56% | €9.90–20.00/sqm | €12.72/sqm |
| Cologne North-East | Schanzenstraße, Mülheim, Kalk | 5.96% | €11.00–17.50/sqm | €16.09/sqm |
| Cologne South-East | Poll, Porz, Gremberghoven, Westhoven | 3.10% | €6.52–17.55/sqm | €10.59/sqm |
| Other districts | – | 0.49% | €12.50/sqm | €12.50/sqm |
This pattern is also reflected in rental trends. The prime rent remains at a high level of 32.10 €/m², while the average rent has declined to 17.80 €/m²—though this is not a sign of a declining willingness to pay. For context: the average rent stood at €17.63/sqm in 2022, €19.24/sqm in 2023, €19.82/sqm in 2024 and €19.90/sqm in 2025. The prime rent rose from €28.00/sqm (2022) via €33.90/sqm (2023) to €35.00/sqm (2024) and has been €32.10/sqm since 2025.
“Rather, the decline is primarily attributable to the low number of high-quality new construction projects and premium leases during the reporting period, which would otherwise have driven the average up more sharply. Demand for modern office space in prime downtown locations remains consistently high,” explains Alexander Wunderle.
The vacancy rate has increased moderately by approximately 10,000 m² compared to the end of 2025, reaching 460,000 m². The vacancy rate thus rose from 5.47% to 5.60%. For comparison: vacancy stood at 235,000 sqm (2.9%) in 2022, 260,000 sqm (3.2%) in 2023 and 365,000 sqm (4.45%) in 2024. At the same time, the market’s polarization is becoming more pronounced. Completions fell sharply to 14,400 sqm in the first half of 2026 (2025: 112,000 sqm), and the project pipeline for the next three years is declining.
“Modern spaces in established office locations continue to offer good leasing prospects. Older existing properties outside of prime locations, on the other hand, are coming under increasing pressure. Here, leasing success is now determined primarily by incentives, the quality of the fit-out, parking spaces, and the speed of decision-making,” says Alexander Wunderle.
The five largest office deals in Cologne: Deutsche Bank with 7,000 sqm at Tunisstraße 19–23, EY with 5,300 sqm at Börsenplatz 1 (renewal in existing premises), MSIG with 3,400 sqm at Im Mediapark 8, Cleary Gottlieb with 2,500 sqm at Sedanstraße 10–16 and Katholino with 2,128 sqm at Josef-Lammerting-Straße 20–22.
The sectors with the highest take-up: services with 16,678 sqm, banking and finance with 13,003 sqm, health and social work with 7,337 sqm, IT and digital with 5,835 sqm, and consulting with 5,613 sqm.
The current trend in the Cologne office market is not due to a lack of attractiveness. Rather, the lack of planning certainty and the overall economic environment are currently the main factors slowing down market activity. For the full year 2026, Angermann NRW expects a take-up of approximately 160,000 m². The three Angermann NRW sentiment barometers for office leasing show: take-up falling, vacancy rising slightly, average rent falling slightly. What’s coming: numerous postponed leasing decisions are returning to the market. What’s going: the expectation that office space in secondary locations can still be let without investment and flexible use concepts. What stays: strong demand for modern space in central locations and smaller high-quality units.
“Should the environment stabilize sustainably, some of the leasing decisions currently on hold are likely to result in concrete deals in the short term,” predicts Alexander Wunderle.
The Cologne Office Market Report is published every six months by the research team of Angermann NRW GmbH, based on more than 400 transactions analysed per year. Angermann NRW is a member of the Cologne gif broker data round, in which the relevant market participants contribute their leasing take-up figures that form the official Cologne market statistics. Take-up, vacancy and rents follow the definitions of the Gesellschaft für Immobilienwirtschaftliche Forschung (gif). Data as of 30 June 2026. The full report with all charts is available on our research page.
Looking for office space in Cologne or planning to let your property? Angermann NRW is the exclusive partner of bürosuche.de in Cologne, regularly acts as lead broker for owners and has let more than 150,000 sqm of office space since 2009. Find out more on our office leasing in Cologne page.