Rhine neighbours, different rhythms: Düsseldorf and Cologne offices diverge

German office markets rarely make good dinner companions. Too many numbers, too little suspense. Düsseldorf and Cologne, however, offered a rare comparison in 2025: two neighbouring cities, same macro headwinds, but different outcomes. One held the line by clinging to existing tenants. The other edged forward, helped largely by the public sector. Together, they offer a clear snapshot of where Germany’s Big 7 office markets really stand.

Düsseldorf ended 2025 stable, but defensive. Office take-up reached 204,300 sqm, just 2% below the previous year, yet still under the long-term average. There was no collapse, but little sense of release either. Jonas Pfennings, managing director at Anteon Immobilien, notes that there are “no signs of a sustained economic recovery”, with uncertainty continuing to weigh on corporate location decisions.

What changed was behaviour. Lease renewals surged to roughly 125,000 sqm, more than double the level seen a year earlier, as landlords moved decisively to retain tenants, often through concessions. Relocations, Pfennings says, are mainly driven by structural change rather than confidence. The market is moving, but cautiously.

That caution is visible elsewhere. Demand weakened in the smaller space segments that usually provide volume, while overall take-up was supported by fewer, larger leases. Vacancy rose sharply. Düsseldorf now carries around 972,700 sqm of empty space, pushing the vacancy rate to 12.6%. Sublet space has also increased. The issue is not declining attractiveness, but a growing mismatch between occupier expectations and existing stock.

Pricing reflects that split. Prime rents climbed to a new high of €47.10/sqm, driven by scarce top-tier space on Königsallee, while average rents slipped by 3% to around €20/sqm. Prime remains tight and expensive; elsewhere, pricing is flexible. With flagship projects largely let, further increases at the top appear unlikely.

Stability versus recovery

Cologne, by contrast, spent 2025 inching forward rather than standing still. Space take-up rose to between 240,000 and 247,000 sqm, depending on the broker, marking growth of around 13–14% year-on-year. That still leaves the market well below its ten-year average, but the direction of travel is positive.

The recovery, however, is narrowly based. Public institutions accounted for roughly one third of demand, with job centres securing more than 30,000 sqm in new developments and insurers such as Atradius taking space in MesseCity Cologne. “High-quality space is in demand,” says Andreas Reul of Greif & Contzen, pointing to the continued relevance of revitalised buildings and selective new construction.

Vacancy also rose in Cologne, but remains modest by Big 7 standards, at around 5.5–5.7%. New construction is progressing slowly, with completions in 2025 well below the long-term average and many projects deferred into 2027 or 2028 due to high costs and subdued demand.

Rents are under pressure, though less dramatically than in Düsseldorf’s secondary segments. Prime rents eased from last year’s peak, while average rents were broadly stable, supported by deals in better-quality space. As Uwe Mortag of Larbig & Mortag puts it, users will still pay for quality, location and sustainability, while simple existing stock, particularly outside central areas, is increasingly difficult to place.

Seen side by side, the contrast is clear. Düsseldorf is absorbing stress through renewals and prime pricing power, but at the cost of rising vacancy elsewhere. Cologne is recovering more visibly, yet relies heavily on public-sector demand and still lacks breadth. Both markets share the same underlying forces: a flight to quality, stalled development pipelines and growing pressure on older buildings.

For investors, neither city offers an easy story. Düsseldorf rewards prime exposure but carries higher vacancy risk. Cologne offers relative stability, but limited upside without broader economic momentum. What 2025 made clear is that while the Rhine links the two cities, their office markets are moving at different speeds — and for different reasons.