Use mix
A high residential and convenience share stabilises value. A high office share makes it more cyclical.
Asset classes · Mixed-use
Mixed-use & urban quarters
A quarter is not one large asset. It is a set of uses, each of which can be valued, financed and sold on its own — and that is exactly where the opportunity lies.
Mixed-use spreads risk: when offices soften, residential carries. When ground-floor retail turns over, the floors above keep running. Institutions like that but struggle to value it.
So we break the asset into its component uses, value each at the market multiple of its own asset class, and put it back together. More work than a blanket valuation, but it almost always produces a higher and better-supported price.
For quarter developments, divisibility matters too: can the site be split into phases that sell individually? If so, the buyer universe doubles.
What we look at first
- Area split by use and the income each produces
- Local plan, encumbrances and infrastructure agreements
- Divisibility into phases or separate title
- Common areas, car park and service charge recovery
- Planning agreement and municipal obligations
Key figures
- Lot size
- from EUR 10m
- Typical buyers
- Funds, developers, family offices
- Pricing basis
- Each use valued separately
- Timeline
- 4 – 8 months
- Special topics
- Planning, division, servicing
Value drivers
What moves the price here
Planning status
An adopted local plan versus a mere resolution to prepare one: months apart, and a substantial risk discount.
Divisibility
A site that splits into three phases reaches buyers who could never fund the whole.
Service charge structure
Shared plant and car parks need clean recovery rules. Without them the buyer prices in the risk.
Process
How a sale runs in this segment
- Step 01
Use analysis
Areas, rents and terms separated cleanly by use.
- Step 02
Planning review
Local plan, infrastructure agreement, encumbrances and open obligations.
- Step 03
Sum-of-parts valuation
Each use at its own multiple, then consolidated and sense-checked.
- Step 04
Buyer approach
Whole-site and phase buyers in parallel, which creates genuine competition.
- Step 05
Structuring and closing
Division, easements and handover mechanics reflected properly in the contract.
From practice
What we see in real deals
One buyer for everything is rare
On larger sites the best total price often comes from two or three phase sales. More process, measurably more proceeds.
Disclose obligations honestly
Affordable quotas, nursery commitments or mobility concepts surface in due diligence anyway. Naming them upfront costs no buyer; hiding them does.
Do not forget the car park
The shared basement car park is regularly the trickiest clause in a quarter sale. Clearing it early with the notary saves weeks.
Questions
What owners ask us
The points owners raise before a mandate — answered the way we would in a first call.
From what size is a split worthwhile?
As a rule of thumb from around EUR 30m, or wherever residential and commercial can be separated physically.
Do you sell quarters without planning consent?
Yes — then we are talking about development land. Different buyers, different process.
How do you value vacant space?
At market rent less letting time and incentives. Anything else will not survive due diligence.
Asset classes
What we cover
We advise on real estate and corporate transactions from EUR 20m across Europe, with a clear focus on the DACH region. Every asset class has its own buyer universe – these are the segments we work in most often.
Thinking about selling in this asset class?
Send us the key figures — you get an honest read on price and buyer universe.