Jahr Holding
Adalbert von Uckermann, managing director, Jahr Holding
Jahr Holding is a single-family office headquartered in Hamburg. The firm manages the assets of the Jahr family, focusing on long-term capital preservation and growth across multiple sectors. With an established presence in the region, Jahr Holding oversees direct investments, private equity, and real estate, and allocates capital using a disciplined approach to portfolio construction and risk management.
Managing director Adalbert von Uckermann talks to REFIRE about long-term ownership, patient capital and the logic of multigenerational investing.
REFIRE: Buildings often outlive the investment strategies behind them. Ownership changes, markets move through different cycles and business plans evolve. Some owners therefore approach development with a fundamentally different perspective from the outset. How does that influence the way you approach development?
Adalbert von Uckermann: A longer investment horizon changes the questions you ask from the very beginning. When a building is likely to remain part of your portfolio for several decades, you naturally think beyond the point of completion or the next transaction. You consider how the building will perform over its entire life cycle, how it will adapt to changing requirements and how it will continue to contribute to its urban environment.
That perspective influences almost every decision, doesn't it?
Indeed, durability, operating quality, flexibility and long-term value creation become part of the original investment case. Applying that perspective naturally leads to different decisions from those made within a shorter investment horizon.
Many developers naturally think about stabilisation, valuation and eventually an exit. Long-term owners apply a rather different perspective. How do you define a successful project?
A successful project continues to perform long after construction has been completed. It attracts tenants, adapts to changing requirements and remains economically resilient throughout its life cycle. Assessing a project over several decades naturally changes the way you think about quality, operating costs, maintenance and future adaptability.
That does not sound like a less disciplined investment approach. If anything, it simply extends the period over which performance is measured.
Every investment has to generate an attractive return on the capital employed. Our investment horizon is simply much longer. We are prepared to invest more upfront when we are convinced that the building will operate more efficiently, remain attractive for tenants and preserve its value over many decades. That's a big difference to when you're trying to maximise the first year's yield. Ultimately, it is a very disciplined investment approach.
One of your recent long-term investments in Berlin was the redevelopment of a site the Jahr family has owned for decades, culminating in the construction of the John Jahr House. The project provides a good opportunity to see how that philosophy translates into a real development.
The John Jahr House illustrates that approach quite well. We deliberately invested beyond what would have been necessary for a purely yield-driven development. We are aiming for DGNB Platinum certification because we regard sustainability as an element of long-term asset quality. Energy performance, operational efficiency and the ability to adapt the building over time all contribute to preserving value. For a long-term owner, those qualities are an integral part of the investment.
The office market has been questioned more fundamentally than almost any other asset class over the past few years. Yet you continued investing in a major office-led development in the centre of Berlin. What gave you that confidence?
The discussion around offices has become much more nuanced. Hybrid working has changed how companies use office space, and that will continue to influence demand. At the same time, we see companies making much more deliberate decisions when they relocate. Location, quality and the overall working environment have become more important than ever.
Jahr Holding
John Jahr House, Berlin
Demand has become more discriminating rather than simply lower.
That reinforces our conviction that high-quality office buildings in prime locations will continue to perform well. One of the lessons from recent years is that demand has become far more selective. Companies are looking for buildings that support collaboration, help attract talent and remain efficient to operate over many years. Those characteristics fit very well with the way we think about long-term ownership.
Many international investors still associate Berlin with lengthy planning procedures and complex approval processes. Your experience with the John Jahr House was rather different.
Our experience was certainly constructive. Large urban developments inevitably require close coordination with the public sector because they shape the city for many decades. We found the dialogue with the City of Berlin to be professional, solution-oriented and based on mutual respect. Planning and approval processes naturally take time, particularly for projects of this scale, but we always had the impression that everyone shared the ambition of creating a high-quality outcome for this part of the city.
International companies today can choose from a wide range of European locations when making strategic decisions. Your long-term commitment to Berlin reflects a strong conviction about the city's future. What continues to make Berlin attractive from your perspective?
We have been investing in Berlin for many years, so our perspective is shaped by long-term experience rather than short-term market cycles. The city has gone through very different phases over the past decades, yet it has continued to attract international businesses, talented people and new ideas.
The continued expansion of international technology companies, including Amazon, reinforces that observation. Berlin has also established itself as one of Northern and Central Europe's leading business hubs, connecting markets, talent and innovation across the region. That ability to evolve gives us confidence in its long-term prospects.
That also changes the role of the building itself. Companies appear to be making much more deliberate choices about where they want to work.
Companies have become much more selective in how they choose their locations. They are looking for buildings that help them attract people, strengthen collaboration and reflect their identity as an organisation. Berlin continues to offer a strong environment for exactly those companies. Our role as a long-term owner is to provide buildings that support those ambitions over many years.
Where do new investment ideas actually come from? Curiosity is clearly an important part of your investment philosophy.
Curiosity starts with meeting people. Financial data and investment reports provide an essential foundation, but they rarely tell the whole story. Investment decisions ultimately depend on the people behind a business, a fund or a project. That is why I spend a great deal of time meeting fund managers, entrepreneurs, fellow investors and other market participants.
Conviction, then, is built through personal exchange rather than information alone.
Those conversations often provide perspectives you simply cannot gain from a presentation or a data room. They help you understand the investment itself as well as the people responsible for it. Remaining open to new ideas while staying disciplined in your investment decisions is one of the most important balances we try to achieve.