Hamburg lifestyle hotel the niu Yen is already the brand's top-selling property shortly after it was handed over by GBI to BVK's special fund

May 11, 2023

The new Hamburg hotel the niu Yen, which opened in the middle of last year, has established itself in the market and is becoming the top-selling of the 40 properties under the niu brand. After a remarkably good start in the opening month of June 2022, when the hotel directly recorded a good lodging performance with nearly 70 percent occupancy and an average room rate (ADR) of 84 euros, key performance indicators continued to improve steadily thereafter. Among other things, the ADR rate in 2023 is already 114 euros. Project developers GBI Group and NORD PROJECT had handed over the jointly planned and built accommodation property near Hamburg's city center at Nordkanalstrasse 46 to the special real estate fund of the Bayerische Versorgungskammer (BVK) at the end of last year. Operated by NOVUM Hospitality, the design-lifestyle hotel offers 347 rooms and a gross floor area of approximately 10,700 square meters. 83 underground parking spaces and 20 new outdoor parking spaces are available to guests.

The decision to invest the BVK Immobilienspezialfonds in the property in City Süd had already been made at the end of 2019 in parallel with the start of construction. With around 107 billion euros (market value) in assets under management for all facilities, BVK is one of the most important institutional investors in Germany. The subfund launched for the hotels investment segment by Universal-Investment is managed by GBI Capital GmbH. The latter is responsible for the selection of operators and locations, due diligence including all acquisition and sales processes as well as long-term management. "We have already achieved values above the pre-pandemic level in some hotel market segments in terms of occupancy and revenue figures. Attractive investments are possible there in the long term," emphasizes Simon Behr, Managing Director of GBI Capital GmbH. The special hotel fund invests in both new buildings and existing properties in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. 

"The fact that the niu Yen developed in such an impressive way into the hotel with the highest turnover of our brand the niu even exceeds our expectations. With this hotel, we are meeting the increased demand for hotel rooms in a convenient location in Hamburg. Thanks to our strong project partners - BVK Hotelfonds as investor and developers GBI and NORD PROJECT - this first-class hotel for up to 700 guests was possible," explains David Etmenan, Chief Executive Officer & Owner NOVUM Hospitality. "To see our young lifestyle brand the niu grow in our hometown with such a great hotel makes us very happy."

The addition of the name Yen to the hotel name honors Hamburg's role as a gateway to the world: with the port, trade, the way to the sea. The name Yen - translated from English as longing - is a reference to the wanderlust that is intensely felt in Hamburg. The interior design is dominated by blue tones that reflect the sea, sky and longing. The interior is combined with an ambience and accessories from seafaring and the port.

The hotel property scores with its central location at Nordkanalstraße 46, from where guests can reach the Hammerbrook S-Bahn station in just a few minutes on foot. In addition to its proximity to Hamburg's main train station, the hotel location also impresses with its convenient location at the Süderelb bridges in the so-called City Süd. The up-and-coming Hamburg office district shines with canals, canals and small green strips. In the rooms, guests can expect the latest technology in the form of flat-screen TV with its own media library and Bluetooth soundbox.   

The new hotel building is part of a mixed-use project. A combined residential and hotel complex with around 25,000 square meters of above-ground gross floor area (approx. 30,000 square meters including underground parking and basement) was built on a 4,780-square-meter site, which houses another hotel (Premier Inn) and 54 high-quality city apartments in addition to the niu Yen. "Such a combination of hotels and residential offerings is a sustainable model with which to create attractive urban spaces," explains Jürgen Paul, managing director of NORD PROJECT Immobilien. Mixed use project developments are the specialty of GBI Group and NORD PROJECT, which cooperate closely in northern Germany. The architects of the mixed-use quarter are the Hamburg-based company pbp prasch buken partner architekten partG mbB and GBI Plan- und Baumanagement.