First smartments opens in Frankfurt
First smartments opens in Frankfurt
Frankfurt/Berlin, 22.02.2024
Yesterday, Wednesday, another building of the serviced apartment brand smartments was opened in Frankfurt’s City East. The building at Borsigallee 9 offers 128 serviced apartments and a shared kitchen on each of the six floors, primarily for young professionals, sociable people and tourists. 17 apartments also have their own kitchens. Guests checked in there can also opt for communal cooking.Spacious communal areas are also available for co-working and events.
“With smartments, we are specifically addressing the needs of the young target group. We see great potential, especially in cities with many attractive employers for young professionals, such as innovative start-ups,” explains Daniel Zawe, Managing Director of smartments. Megatrends such as the increasing flexibility of the labour market are boosting demand for flexible living solutions with social interaction.
Young professionals not only want to have a private retreat in the serviced apartments, they also want to get to know people quickly and easily via a community structure in the building – especially for temporary project commitments. “This combination is particularly important for this group of guests, especially for longer stays,” says Daniel Zawe: “A community in the building makes it easier and quicker to settle into the new city.” The process is to be promoted through events such as joint cooking evenings, kitchen concerts, wine or gin tastings.
The location in Frankfurt City East also offers ideal transport connections. The Gwinnerstraße subway station right outside the door provides excellent public transport connections. The U4 and U7 lines take smartments guests to the main train station in 17 minutes, to the trade fair in 18 minutes and to cultural highlights in the Alte Oper in 13 minutes. The access road to the A66 freeway, which can be reached in just a few minutes, means that companies or appointments in the region can be reached quickly. Tourists benefit from this when traveling to cultural highlights and sights in the surrounding area.
The concept in Frankfurt City East does not have a fixed ratio of units with and without kitchens. “We decide this for each location based on the city structure and demand analyses,” says Daniel Zawe. Comparatively more short-term travelers are expected in Frankfurt.
These products are also of interest to investors. The property in Frankfurt East was acquired by abrdn Investments Deutschland AG for a special fund. In 2023, smartments recorded 15% higher revenue per room in the serviced apartment segment than in the previous year. The economic success with high guest satisfaction is also made possible by the increasing digitalization of operations. All standard processes, from booking and check-in to invoicing, are fully automated. The staff on site can therefore concentrate on the important task of dealing with individual requests. This is more important for guests and strengthens customer loyalty.
The expansion of smartments is progressing: by 2025, a further 223 units will be built in Bielefeld directly at the main railway station. In addition, two further smartments buildings are under construction in Frankfurt Airport (142 units) and Hamburg (160 units). In addition to 1171 open serviced apartments – in nine buildings in Frankfurt, Berlin (3), Hamburg, Munich, Mannheim and Vienna (2) – three further properties with a total of 525 units are currently under construction. Together with the smartments student units, the smartments operating company currently has 2,390 units (including units under construction; see list of locations at the end of the press release).
The aim is to grow to around 5,000 apartments over the next few years.The role of the financially strong real estate fund manager Henderson Park, as a shareholder in the group, enables the acquisition of existing properties and portfolios as well as pure lease agreements with other developers and portfolio holders. Mixed-use developments also continue to play a role in this growth strategy. Serviced apartments are combined with other types of use.