Whether it’s Kreuzberg, Neukölln or Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin’s most vibrant places tend to have one thing in common: they evolved naturally. Residents shaped local character, then shops and offices followed.
Potsdamer Platz is different. Rebuilt under a sweeping masterplan in the 1990s, its design set out to impress from day one. And for a time, it worked - particularly thanks to the English-language cinema, which gave Berliners a reason to come. But over the years, the pull faded. As the city evolved, Potsdamer Platz began to feel dated; a destination with few reasons to linger, and little relevance to the everyday lives of Berliners.
When Oxford Properties purchased the site in 2017, the challenge was clear: how do you reinvent a place built from the top down and turn it into something that Berliners might choose for themselves?
"A lot of the places that Berliners enjoy going to grew organically out of the post war no-man’s land around the time of the country’s re-unification - the people came first and everything else followed," says Anneke Hasenritter, part of Oxford’s asset management team in Berlin. "In this case it's the other way around, so the question has always been: how do we engage the community to create a space that they want and need at the heart of their city?"
The answer was simple, at least at first: start asking Berliners.
A global perspective
In 2018, a year after purchasing the property, Oxford began assembling a team able to tackle the project. That included the Australian architecture firm Woods Bagot, known for its expertise in large-scale mixed-use developments such as Collins Arch in Melbourne and Commercial Bay in Auckland, alongside real estate brokers and marketing agencies who brought both global perspectives and local market experience.
The team began conducting focus groups with local residents, plus surveys and informal interviews. Regular site walks began to reveal how the space was used and, at times, avoided.
“We spent time in the neighbourhood, speaking with people where they actually live and work," says Jay Drexler, Oxford's Head of Asset Management. "It was about listening to what they value, what’s missing, and what might bring them back.”
It became clear that most Berliners weren't visiting the site other than to catch the odd Hollywood film. Even then, it was typically a quick visit: the food and beverage options were geared towards tourists, so locals would move on once the credits rolled.
New ideas
The consultation reframed the project. Berliners weren’t rejecting the space - they’d simply never been invited to help shape it. The team rethought their target audiences, shifting from a tourist-first mindset to one that prioritized office workers and Berliners, with tourists following.
Planning decisions began to reflect local priorities: everyday amenities, welcoming spaces, and uses that brought people in at different times of day -not just during office hours or peak holiday periods.
New ideas emerged as the years ticked by: team members lived close by, and the site naturally became part of their daily routines. That proximity helped the team move beyond abstract planning and tune in to the rhythms of local life -what felt welcoming, what fell flat, and what was missing.
"We’re living with the asset" says Guillaume Van Appelghem, Director, Asset Management at Oxford. "My parents have toured it, my children too."
Different DNA
The result is a reimagined public realm; more seating, greenery, natural materials, and water features to encourage congregating, socialising, and lingering.
The site’s cinemas - long symbolic of the area’s underused potential - have been completely reimagined. The former IMAX, with its vast open interior, has been transformed into a food hall operated by London’s KERB. Meanwhile, one of the traditional cinemas is being divided into two distinct uses: an immersive digital art venue on one side, and a boutique fitness studio on the other. These changes speak directly to the kinds of experiences Berliners say they want: dynamic, cultural, and rooted in daily life.
For the office space, we’ve drawn on our experience as a global investor with a 30 million square foot office portfolio. Wellness-led workspaces are central to our strategy: places that offer more than a desk, with restaurants, fitness facilities, and abundant greenery to give people a reason to come in and work alongside colleagues. At the same time, we've remained conscious that Berlin has different DNA to locations like London or New York City. It's decentralized, bike-heavy and culturally skeptical of glossy corporate spaces.
The results are already showing. Despite a subdued market, rent levels have outperformed the city average by 50% and the city prime rents by 20% The institutional credibility of Das Center is further supported by notable anchor tenancies, including Deutsche Bahn. Significantly, the team secured nearly €10 million in ESG subsidies—thanks in part to a quiet but timely shift in German policy. Oxford’s team spotted the opportunity early, and a weekend discovery by asset manager Benjamin Gschnell led them to a complex but generous federal programme. A specialist consultant was quickly brought in to navigate the process, ultimately securing funding that helped offset rising construction costs while accelerating the site's decarbonisation efforts.
While the project has involved extensive planning, stakeholder engagement and phased delivery, its success is perhaps best measured by a simpler test: the sense that Potsdamer Platz is beginning to feel like a core part of the city again. It’s no longer just a destination for events or out-of-towners, but a place that Berliners can use, shape and enjoy on their own terms. And it looks great, too.
“We said we were going to do something, we built a vision around it, and then we did it,” Jay adds. “The photos look better than the renderings—and that almost never happens.”
A legacy reimagined
When we began reimagining Potsdamer Platz, we anticipated a challenge: architects hold commercial copyright on their designs for 80 years under German law. That meant Helmut Jahn, who had led the original 1990s vision, still had the final say.
But instead of facing resistance, we were greeted with enthusiasm.
"I love this. When do I start?" Jahn told us after reviewing the early proposals, Oxford’s Jay Drexler recalls.
He didn’t just approve our vision - he joined us. What followed was a close and collaborative process. From his home in the US, Jahn engaged with us daily, helping shape the masterplan building by building.
He still sketched by hand - bold red marker on paper - and he’d send us these evolving ideas and revisions, filled with energy and clarity. For someone in his early 80s, he brought a remarkable openness and spirit of progress to the work.
Jahn’s influence is still visible across the site. Working with him gave us an opportunity few developers ever get: to revisit a landmark project not just with respect, but in partnership with the person who created it.
Jahn passed away in 2021, just months after the collaboration. His legacy lives on - not only in what was built, but in the continued partnership with his family and studio, who remain actively engaged in shaping the next chapter of Potsdamer Platz.
Transcript
Narrator: Berlin. A crossroads of history and possibility. A city shaped not just by buildings, but by the people who call it home. It's their choices, their rhythm, that brings the city to life.
When Potsdamer Platz was rebuilt in the 1990s, it was a symbol of ambition and new beginnings. A space designed to impress. But over time it lost its pull. Built for visitors, it never quite found its place with Berliners. When Oxford Properties purchased the site in 2017, the question was simple - how do you turn a place built for others into one that Berliners might choose for themselves?
Benjamin Gschnell: When we started our vision and when we started the masterplan, we went around the communities and talked to the people around and asked them what they're looking for at The Center and if they want to be part of the change.
Jay Drexler: So the perception was almost like it was an extra limb of the city, rather than part of the city.
Anneke Scheper: The main challenge was really, how do we turn a space that is mostly tourist focused into something that the locals like and appreciate, and are open to using and making it part of their daily lives?
Jay Drexler: You change that by engaging with Berliners. We spent a lot of time learning about the past, educating ourselves on the neighborhood itself.
Anneke Scheper: It's all about listening. It's talking to the right people and bringing on board the right partners.
Jay Drexler: Apply what we know globally about great assets and what people want in office product and mixed-use development. Previously, it was tourist, office worker, Berliner. I think we've repositioned that to be Berliner, you know, office worker, tourist in terms of the stack.
Monika Jularic: It really is about bringing life to the place. By identifying the right company, the right mix, the right brand and also integrating those in our culture and community here.
Narrator: Slowly, the pieces began to change. The IMAX became a food hall tailored to locals. Cinemas are evolving into art spaces and fitness studios. Sterile spaces gave way to greenery, water and places to gather. Changes that speak directly to the kinds of experiences Berliners say they want - dynamic, cultural, and rooted in daily life.
Jay Drexler: Berliners want to use bikes, and the asset was saying no. We rearranged that. We put bikes at the core and center of the asset. It's a state-of-the-art facility that allows for that mode of transit to be showcased and to be convenient.
Narrator: Oxford designed for wellness and community, and it's working. In a cautious market, rents are setting a new high watermark, redefining what's possible in Berlin.
Guillaume Van Appelghem: That's where we turn that work oriented asset into something else. Transform it to fit better with what Berlin is actually into today.
Narrator: Architects hold commercial copyright on their designs for 80 years under German law. That meant Helmut Jahn, who had led the original 1990s vision, still had the final say.
Jay Drexler: Helmut Jahn would have been 79 or 80 at the time. And rather than ask for money, his response to the pitch was “I love it, when do I start?”
I think he would be immensely proud. Where we drew our alignment in all of this was the customer. The human being who comes and experiences the asset.
Benjamin Gschnell: Now you see the locals are coming back. You see families are coming back with the kids. Kids running in the fountains, getting soaking wet. And then at night, you see a lot of people of young people as well, coming back to the food hall here at The Center, enjoying their time here.
Guillaume Van Appelghem: We are approaching our goal of ten millions of visitors a year. Just to put things into perspective, it's as much as the viewers of Mona Lisa in in a year. So it's, it's quite a lot. I mean, my son is asking me five times a week if we can go back to The Center. So when he does that, then it tells me that we've done something right. You know, that makes me really proud of it as well.
Jay Drexler: At this point in the portfolio today, it's my favorite place to come. You walk around the forum in the public space and people don't just pass through the asset any longer. They stop. They stay. And I think everything that they're telling us and showing us is that the change has been welcomed and the perception is changing.
Monika Jularic: As a Berliner, I kind of also grew up here. It changed throughout this time. This is what also Berlin is about. Like Berlin is never final. Berlin, it's always changing. And this is what we kind of showing at The Center. This is our vision to reinvent not only our asset, to reinvent the submarket. And this is how we contribute to Berlin and shaping of Berlin's very much heart.
Narrator: Today, Potsdamer Platz is becoming what it was always meant to be. Not just a landmark, but a living part of Berlin. A place where the locals set the rhythm and the city follows.