06/02/2025
'Thalia-Haus' – CELLS acquires former Karstadt property in Hamburg city centre
With its central location in Hamburg's city centre, the ‘Thalia-Haus’ acquired by CELLS offers great potential for forward-looking development as a lively neighbourhood hub between Alstertor, Raboisen and Kleine Rosenstraße. The plan is to comprehensively upgrade the existing building architecturally and create a modern mixed-use property.
CELLS has acquired the 'Thalia-Haus' in Hamburg city centre from SIGNA's insolvency estate on behalf of the Icelandic family office E3 from Reykjavik. The property is located between Mönckebergstraße, Rathausmarkt, Jungfernstieg and Binnenalster, making it an absolutely prime location. CELLS is planning a mixed-use concept which, at the current early planning stage, envisages a combination of restaurants, hotels, entertainment, offices, fitness facilities and residential units. After the renovation, which is scheduled for completion in 2028, around 20,000 square metres of rental space will be available. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price.
‘It is extremely rare to have the opportunity to purchase a property in such a central location in Hamburg. That is why we are all the more delighted to now have the opportunity to develop a new gem for Hamburg's city centre together with a partner with an extremely long-term orientation,’ says Dirk Ruppert, Chief Investment Officer of CELLS.
The property is located on three streets – Alstertor, Raboisen and Kleine Rosenstraße – and was previously connected to the GALERIA department store on Mönckebergstraße via a pedestrian bridge. Built in 1982, the existing building, whose eight upper floors were previously used half as a department store and half as a car park, has a usable area of 14,300 square metres.
‘With its 1980s façade made of exposed aggregate concrete, fair-faced concrete and grey clinker bricks, the property has not been a highlight of Hamburg's city centre to date – and therefore offers exciting opportunities for architectural enhancement,’ says Norman Schaaf, Chief Development Officer at CELLS. CELLS is currently developing the sustainable office property ‘Am Holstenwall’ in Hamburg with another partner, directly opposite the Museum of Hamburg History. Eight months before completion, 83 per cent of the space has already been leased. At the beginning of 2024, CELLS also acquired the ‘Atrium Office’ on Hamburg's Glockengießerwall.