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Reuse radar

Hamburg

Hamburg's office vacancy rate is the lowest of the five radar cities, but almost three quarters of the space that stands empty is older stock at the edge of the centre and in office districts such as City Nord. The city owns about half its land and has already let a cooperative turn a city car park into 90 subsidised flats on a ground lease. What it lacks is any list of its own empty buildings: the property agency says none exists.
An empty building in Hamburg with homes, balconies and neighbours drawn onto it in ink
Vacant office space953,000 m²6.5% of the stock stands empty
Of which older stock694,000 m²The realistic pool for conversion
On the map2,302buildings and sites from 6 open sources
Homes potential≈ 3,536if 30% of empty offices converted

Office figures: BNP Paribas Real Estate, 30 June 2026 (market area as BNP defines it); older stock = total vacancy minus BNP’s "modern" vacancy. Homes: our economic model’s conversion engine. Map built 2026-10-06.

Hamburg city profileReuse atlas: all of Europe

The map

Switch layers on by the question you are asking. Every point comes from a public record, an open dataset or a cited report; open one to see where it comes from and what the data cannot tell us.

Hamburg’s open cadastre has no "unused" flag, so the radar cannot list empty buildings directly as it does in Berlin; empty-now points come from named cases.

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0 points · click a cluster to zoom, a point for its sources

Where to look first

Buildings with evidence that they stand empty — a second source agrees, a public record names them, or we have checked them — ranked by a score you can read: co-op scale, daylight depth, a station nearby, a zone that allows homes, affordable land and an open route in. Checked buildings carry their result; nobody has visited them on site yet. Leerstandsmelder reports join the list when they sit in a large non-residential building and a second source agrees.

ScoreBuildingFloor areaDepthLand valueStationActions
76Notkestraße 5Not confirmed yet
On public land · Bürogebäude · 3 storeys · 2 other sources nearby
3,033 m²15.1 m€1,650/m²1,637 m
66Albert-Einstein-Ring 7
On public land · Bürogebäude · 4 storeys · 2 other sources nearby
6,556 m²18.7 m€1,650/m²1,698 m
65Former Karstadt, Harburg
Public building named vacant · 1 other source nearby
——€860/m²94 m
62Süderstraße 142
On public land · Verwaltungsgebäude · 4 storeys · 1 other source nearby
4,971 m²23.2 m€790/m²931 m
61Rented office space, Johannes-Brahms-Platz
Public building named vacant
9,220 m²—€2,000/m²328 m
61Schumacherstraße 5–9
Public building named vacant · 1 other source nearby
——€2,000/m²461 m
58Former Karstadt, Sachsentor
Public building named vacant · 1 other source nearby
——€1,000/m²516 m
58BImA offices, Tunnelstraße 12
Public building named vacant
——€620/m²782 m
54BImA housing, Manteuffelstraße 46
Public building named vacant
——€2,200/m²868 m
54BImA housing, Tietzestraße 15–21
Public building named vacant
——€1,650/m²515 m
54BImA housing, Wulfsdal 6
Public building named vacant
——€2,000/m²635 m
50BImA offices, Blumensand 42
Public building named vacant
——€480/m²2,733 m
46Former barracks, Notkestraße 3–5
Public building named vacant · 1 other source nearby
——€1,650/m²1,652 m
46BImA housing, Schenefelder Landstraße 126
Public building named vacant
——€1,450/m²1,005 m
38DEA building, Überseering 40
Distressed or stranded (named) · 1 other source nearby
——€1,350/m²644 m
37Elbtower
Distressed or stranded (named)
——€4,100/m²73 m

Homes standing empty

Of 429 Leerstandsmelder reports on the map, 426 sit in a building we can identify — 373 of them homes. Most are single flats or buildings below co-op scale. These are whole buildings of flats that people report empty, ranked by a reactivation score: co-op scale, whether the whole building is empty, how recent the report is, location and land. A building of flats needs no change of use. Reports are public and not checked by us — each card links to its entry on Leerstandsmelder.

ScoreBuildingFloor areaReportedActions
89Haakestr. 17
Wohnhaus · 4 storeys · Whole building
968 m²Jul 2023
88Lutterothstraße 67Not confirmed yet
Wohnhaus · 5 storeys · Whole building
3,550 m²Apr 2023
81Wichelkamp 6a
Wohnhaus · 2 storeys · Whole building
756 m²Jan 2024
81Kieler Straße 62
Wohngebäude mit Handel und Dienstleistungen · 5 storeys · Whole building
1,415 m²Jun 2024
76Bei der Johanniskirche 5
Wohnhaus · 3 storeys · Whole building
723 m²Dec 2024
76Hamburger Berg 31
Wohngebäude mit Handel und Dienstleistungen · 7 storeys · Whole building
2,093 m²Aug 2020
71Vogelhüttendeich 69
Wohngebäude mit Handel und Dienstleistungen · 4 storeys · Whole building
736 m²Jun 2023
65Reekamp 8
Wohnhaus · 5 storeys · Extent not stated · 2 records
3,570 m²Aug 2023
65Reekamp 4
Wohnhaus · 4 storeys · Extent not stated · 2 records
1,568 m²Aug 2023
65Barnerstraße 42
Wohngebäude mit Handel und Dienstleistungen · 3 storeys · Extent not stated
1,236 m²Mar 2022
65Sillemstraße 77
Wohnhaus · 5 storeys · Extent not stated
1,025 m²May 2026
65Sillemstraße 73Not confirmed yet
Wohnhaus · 4 storeys · Extent not stated
2,280 m²Feb 2025
65Sand 14
Wohngebäude mit Handel und Dienstleistungen · 5 storeys · Extent not stated
1,465 m²Feb 2024
61Fuhlsbüttler Straße 121 und 123
Wohngebäude mit Handel und Dienstleistungen · 4 storeys · Extent not stated
1,252 m²Apr 2024
61Schwalbenstraße 47
Wohnhaus · 4 storeys · Extent not stated
1,028 m²Apr 2026

Districts where conversion makes sense

Where empty offices, the right zoning and a working neighbourhood come together — and what could go wrong.

A hand outlining a neighbourhood on a city map, with small houses drawn inside

City Nord

A 1960s–70s office city whose own owners say it has too much office space and back conversion; a U5 station is planned at Überseering.

  • Owners’ association reports vacancy above 11%, the highest since the 1990s
  • It names the Überseering 17 and 26 projects as stagnating and wants more housing there
  • Office asking rents start at €8.50/m² (Savills, 2025)

Risk: The housing that is coming is mostly new build on car parks, and the long-empty DEA building is being looked at for the state laboratory.

3 sources

Hammerbrook and City Süd

The district with the longest record of adding homes to an office quarter, and an active plan to add more.

  • About 2,900 new flats built in Hammerbrook in a decade
  • B-Plan Hammerbrook 15 (0.86 ha, Spaldingstraße / Albertstraße) started 27 May 2025
  • City Süd office asking rents from €9.50/m² (Savills, 2025)

Risk: Land prices are rising, and noise from rail lines and arterial roads has not been checked.

2 sources

Innenstadt and Altstadt

The Senate wants city-centre commercial space turned into housing where possible, and the first cooperative conversion of a city building is here.

  • Gröninger Hof: a city car park becoming 90 subsidised cooperative flats on a 75-year Erbbaurecht
  • The city pays about €2 million a year for rented space it does not use, including about 9,220 m² at Johannes-Brahms-Platz
  • City zone vacancy 149,000 m², of which 66,000 m² modern (BNP, mid-2026)

Risk: Most empty space in the City zone is modern prime stock that owners will try to re-let rather than sell.

4 sources

Harburg

The cheapest office rents in Hamburg and land the city has just bought for housing.

  • Office asking rents from €8.00/m² (Savills, 2025)
  • The city bought 69,000 m² on Magistrale 9 in Harburg "for future housing" in 2025
  • Elfenwiese concept tender for building groups, with applications due by 7 September 2026

Risk: Conversion evidence is thin: no named empty office buildings were found.

3 sources

Owners and routes in

Who controls the space, and what a housing cooperative can actually do with them.

A door key on a doorstep with a drawn path leading to an open door
Public owner

LIG and Sprinkenhof (city property)

The city owns about 49.5% of its area and granted 8.5 ha on Erbbaurecht in 2025. Gröninger Hof shows the route: a Sprinkenhof car park handed by concept tender to a cooperative on a 75-year Erbbaurecht with a 25-year option. LIG keeps no list of empty buildings, so bring specific addresses, checked against the open city-land parcels.

4 sources
Church property

Archdiocese of Hamburg

About 800 properties, mostly owned by parishes, are under review; those it cannot develop are to be let, leased on Erbbaurecht or sold. The Catholic parish that runs Krankenhaus Groß-Sand in Wilhelmsburg ended operations by 30 June 2026, so its site is one to raise early.

3 sources
Public owner

BImA, through the city’s first-refusal right

BImA’s Hamburg commercial portfolio was 46% empty on 1 January 2026, and its 2023 list marks the office building at Blumensand 42 for disposal. Ask the city to take such sites first: the €35,000 discount per social flat also works on Erbbaurecht and can be passed on to a cooperative.

3 sources
Subsidy

KfW 266 "Gewerbe zu Wohnen" (federal)

Since 1 July 2026: 30% of eligible costs, up to €30,000 per new flat, for converting offices, shops and similar buildings; Effizienzhaus 85 EE and 10 years of residential use. Apply before signing a construction contract; cooperatives are not named explicitly among applicants, so check the KfW Merkblatt.

1 source

Signals to watch

Decisions, auctions and closures that change what becomes available, and when.

  1. 2026-08-07
    City keeps buying land

    Hamburg bought 87.8 ha in 2025, including 69,000 m² on Magistrale 9 in Harburg for future housing, and granted 8.5 ha on Erbbaurecht.

    1 source
  2. 2026-07-22
    Galeria Hamburg-Eimsbüttel under review

    The Eimsbüttel store is among 33 Galeria is reviewing, with further closures planned.

    1 source
  3. 2026-06-30
    Krankenhaus Groß-Sand closes

    The Wilhelmsburg hospital, owned by a Catholic parish of the Archdiocese of Hamburg, ended operations, citing the federal hospital reform.

    2 sources
  4. 2026-04-28
    City pays €2 million a year for unused rented space

    Including about 9,220 m² at Johannes-Brahms-Platz rented for the Justizbehörde and not used.

    1 source
  5. 2026-02-27
    Holsten-Areal sold to a consortium including SAGA

    SAGA and Quantum signed a purchase contract for about 700 subsidised homes in a plan of about 2,000; no cooperative share has been reported.

    1 source
  6. 2026-01-16
    Becken plans a residential tower in City Nord

    Up to 180 rental flats, 35% subsidised, on the car park at Überseering 40 by Q4 2027; the neighbouring DEA building has stood empty for years.

    1 source

Sources and freshness

10 sources connected, 1 waiting for access. We only use data we may lawfully reuse; where a publisher blocks automated access we do not work around it — a person downloads it, or we ask for permission.

Show every source, its licence and when we last read it
SourceAccessRecordsStatusLicence
Office, administrative and school buildings on city-owned land
Landesbetrieb Geoinformation und Vermessung (LGV) / LIG Hamburg
City ownership of the parcel, intersected with ALKIS building function. Says nothing about occupancy.
Open API206Live
2026-10-06
Datenlizenz Deutschland – Namensnennung 2.0
Office buildings of 4+ storeys that are 16 m deep or less
Landesbetrieb Geoinformation und Vermessung (LGV) Hamburg
Geometry only — says nothing about whether a building is occupied.
Open API733Live
2026-10-06
Datenlizenz Deutschland – Namensnennung 2.0
Normalised land values by use (flats vs offices) per block
Gutachterausschuss für Grundstückswerte in Hamburg
Open APIscoringLive
2026-10-06
Datenlizenz Deutschland – Namensnennung 2.0
Federal land (BImA and Deutsche Bahn parcels)
LGV Hamburg
Open API448Live
2026-10-06
Datenlizenz Deutschland – Namensnennung 2.0
Forced auctions of commercial property (zvg-portal)
Justizportal des Bundes und der Länder
Non-residential objects only; shown until the hearing date. Hamburg courts do not publish here.
Open API0Live
2026-10-06
Official public notice (§ 39 ZVG)
OpenStreetMap disused/abandoned tags and brownfields
OpenStreetMap contributors
Open API463Live
2026-10-06
ODbL 1.0 (© OpenStreetMap contributors)
Rail, S-Bahn and U-Bahn stations (OpenStreetMap)
OpenStreetMap contributors
Open APIscoringLive
2026-10-06
ODbL 1.0 (© OpenStreetMap contributors)
Road noise (EU Environmental Noise Directive, Lden)
European Environment Agency
Open APIscoringLive
2026-10-06
EEA standard re-use policy (attribution)
Leerstandsmelder.de — public reports of empty buildings
Leerstandsmelder (Gängeviertel e.V., Hamburg)
Shown while we ask Leerstandsmelder for permission. Reports since 2016 only, with the address, the month reported and a link to each entry; not checked by EHC. From a one-time copy of 4 October 2026 — the API is not fetched, as it disallows automated agents.
Asking for permission429Live
2026-10-06
Credited to Leerstandsmelder.de; asking for permission
Named buildings and sites from EHC research (each with its own source)
European Housing Coop research
EHC research23Live
2026-10-06
Facts cited to their publishers
Commercial listings (ImmoScout24 / immowelt)
Scout24 / AVIV
Blocked to automated access; we do not work around that. Request drafted in docs/reuse-radar/outreach/.
Asking for permission0PendingProprietary — API or data partnership requested

What this radar cannot see yet

  • Hamburg’s open cadastre has no "unused" flag, so the radar cannot list empty buildings directly as it does in Berlin; empty-now points come from named cases.
  • Hamburg’s courts do not publish forced auctions on zvg-portal.de, so auctions are missing here.
  • The city property agency keeps no list of empty or unused buildings (FOI answer, April 2025), so public vacancy has to be assembled case by case.
  • Leerstandsmelder has more Hamburg reports than any other city; they are public reports, not checked by EHC, and carry no end date — the map shows those made since 2016, each linked to its entry on leerstandsmelder.de.

Know an empty building we have missed?

Open data cannot see everything. Tell us about a building in Hamburg that stands empty or barely used; once we have checked it, it joins the map under “Reported by visitors (checked)”.

A phone held up to photograph an empty shopfront, with a map pin drawn above it

We publish the address, the kind of building and your description once we have checked it — never your email. Please do not name the people who own or live in a building.

Other radars

Berlin1,195buildings flagged unused in the official cadastreOpen the radar Munich97office and commercial spaces the city lists as on offerOpen the radar Frankfurt am Main1,022offices shallow enough to become flatsOpen the radar Mannheim344offices shallow enough to become flatsOpen the radar Amsterdam890office buildings and sites in public handsOpen the radar Barcelona353office buildings and sites in public handsOpen the radar Brussels479large office and work buildingsOpen the radar Copenhagen897office buildings and sites in public handsOpen the radar Dublin945office buildings and sites in public handsOpen the radar Lisbon84brownfields and planned quartersOpen the radar Madrid801office buildings and sites in public handsOpen the radar Milan4,046office buildings and sites in public handsOpen the radar Paris517office buildings and sites in public handsOpen the radar Vienna744large office and work buildingsOpen the radar Zurich337office buildings and sites in public handsOpen the radar