Sell retail in Hanover.

A retail unit depends on location, visibility and footfall. Frontage width, step-free access, layout and neighbouring shops are decisive.

We review rent, service charges, signage, delivery access, storage and permitted use. If nothing fits, submit a search brief.

Hannover's retail leasing market entered 2026 on a stabilising footing, with clear recovery on the best pitches but lingering structural weakness off-prime. The city has four recognised 1A locations, Georgstrasse, Bahnhofstrasse, Grosse Packhofstrasse and Karmarschstrasse, converging on the Kröpcke plaza, while the Ernst-August-Galerie at the Hauptbahnhof functions as the dominant footfall magnet for the entire inner city. Letting momentum has improved markedly: first-half 2024 take-up rose 42 percent year-on-year to around 5,500 sqm, driven by retailers expanding selectively on prime frontages and by a broader return-to-store trend. Rents tell a story of correction giving way to stabilisation. Prime high-street rents for a standard 100 sqm unit eased from roughly 160 EUR per sqm at the end of 2023 toward about 150 EUR, with larger 1,000 sqm units commanding around 45 EUR. Market participants expect prime levels to hold rather than fall further. The defining structural feature remains elevated vacancy: across all central locations there are significantly more empty units than before the pandemic, and demand is sharply concentrated on quality space in the best positions, leaving older and secondary stock under persistent pressure. The submarket hierarchy is well defined. Georgstrasse holds the top prime pitch with the highest rents and tightest availability; Bahnhofstrasse offers high-volume, mass-market frontage with exceptional commuter footfall; the Ernst-August-Galerie anchors the central catchment with around 150 stores; and the Kröpcke quarter together with Grosse Packhofstrasse and Karmarschstrasse forms the connecting pedestrian core, where post-pandemic vacancy is most visible. Regional purchasing power around the EHI index of 100.9 and a wide catchment underpin the whole pitch. For the coming twelve months the outlook is cautiously positive. The 1 January 2026 reduction of dine-in VAT to 7 percent supports food-and-beverage uses that increasingly anchor footfall, and re-leasing of modernised mall and large-format space offers clear opportunities, as does securing scarce prime Georgstrasse and Bahnhofstrasse frontages for expanding brands. The principal risks are still-elevated secondary vacancy, soft pricing power after the rent easing, the ongoing online shift pressuring large-format units, and consumer caution amid macro uncertainty. On balance the prime end of Hannover's retail market is recovering while the secondary end continues to require repositioning.

take up h1 2024: 5,500 sqm (H1 2024, +42% YoY); prime rent large unit: 45 EUR/sqm/month (1,000 sqm unit, 1A-Lage); prime rent high street: 150 EUR/sqm/month (100 sqm prime unit, 1A-Lage); purchasing power index: 100.9 index (per capita, EHI).