January 2016
Düsseldorf Airport City – Global Connection and Regional Network
Right next to the terminal of Düsseldorf Airport, Germany’s third largest, the premiere real estate site “Düsseldorf Airport City” has been progressing since 2003, exactly as planned. The modern business park offers attractive conditions for successful business. “Being located in Airport City adjacent to Düsseldorf Airport, companies get direct access to the world’s trade centers,” says Anja Dauser, Director of Flughafen Immobilien GmbH (Airport Real Estate Corporation). “The office park is located within the optimal transportation infrastructure of one of Europe’s most significant economic regions, with many millions of people and benefits from the Düsseldorf area’s economic power and vitality.”
Flughafen Immobilien GmbH (FDI) is a subsidiary of Flughafen Düsseldorf GmbH, and is responsible for the site’s planning, development, and operation. Development plans were conceived in 2005 to include 230,000 square meters (sqm) of gross floor space, of which 85 percent have already been sold. The remaining land available for construction gives investors the option for additional buildings with gross floor areas ranging from about 5,000 sqm. Construction is divided into two segments to avoid disturbing companies already in operation. The first segment has already been completed, and FDI is confident that the second segment will be completely marketed to investors by 2017.
Excellent Traffic Connections
Airport City features outstanding connections to transportation infrastructure. Sixty airlines serve up to 200 destinations worldwide from Düsseldorf Airport. On average, 580 daily departures and arrivals guarantee a large number of connections. It takes Airport City travelers just minutes to get from their desk to the check-in counter, reinforcing the airport’s reputation as an “airport of short distances” as North-Rhine Westphalia’s (NRW) largest airport with 21.8 million passengers. Airport City offers direct access to Highway A44 and superb connections to public transportation, including bus, tram, and long-distance trains by Deutsche Bahn. Taxis and rental car hubs complement the excellent options. As such, Airport City is among the top economic locations in Germany in terms of traffic and infrastructure.
In the Heart of a Dynamic Location
Airport City is at the center of an economic region with enormous potential. Nine million people live in a 50 km radius and 18 million in a 100 km radius. The region’s market size is similar to London, Moscow or Paris. Nine of thirty DAX companies call NRW home, and about 400,000 companies are located in the Rhine Ruhr region. Many international corporations have chosen the region to serve their German and European markets. This makes Düsseldorf Airport the most important airport in Germany’s most powerful economic area.
Prime Location with High Quality of Living
In every way, Airport City is positioned as an exclusive location with a special ambience. “The optimal connection to both airport terminal and highway network and the appealing, park-like design of Düsseldorf Airport City are some of our business park’s main advantages,” says Dauser. Surroundings, reachability, and appearance are aspects that reinforce the business park’s investment value now and in the future. They are all factors that are important for today’s investors and tenants in selecting their office location.
At the heart of the Airport City project is the clear objective of preserving and increasing the value of an investor’s asset. This also means that FDI determines the quality and variety of the architecture based on investors’ input. Both investors and tenants have a say in the planning and design of their real estate. The building complexes are designed, developed and built by renowned architectural firms with an eye to clear urban planning and a focus on a harmonious urban “big picture.”
Business Park with Green and Quiet Zones
An appealing design for Airport City’s open spaces increases its quality. The office park – unlike other business locations and airports – is separate from industrial facilities like maintenance halls, freight forwarders or fuel storage plants, and it is enhanced by superbly designed park and green areas. “Exclusive areas and quiet zones integrated in the neighborhood have been created for people who work at Airport City, as well as for visitors and residents,” says Dauser.
The open space design is a highly important planning aspect in the overall concept and has been integrated from the beginning. FDI conducted an international competition to define and guarantee a high standard in its project’s open space planning. The winning design by Zurich-based firm Vogt has since been executed consistently.
“The approach to the park, open, and road spaces uses the classic elements of landscaping: single trees and groups of trees, combined with meadows, forest-like areas, bodies of water and molded surfaces,” explains Dauser. More than 2,400 high-grade trees were planted. A total of 12 different kinds of beech trees, including non-European kinds, were arranged in small and large groups. Moreover, more than 3,000 high-grade scrubs and bushes were planted and shaped into extraordinary arrangements.
There are two focal points in the open space design that give Airport City its signature look: The City Square (Stadtplatz) and the City Garden (Stadtgarten). The City Square is a place of tranquility, marked by two islands of shrubbery, including remains of the location’s original vegetation and ponds. City Garden at Airport City’s physical center is also its green center and connected by a foot path to the adjacent public city park.
Project Overview
Düsseldorf Airport has also evolved into a major meeting and conference location. The MARITIM Hotel opened in 2007 at the airport. “The MARITIM Hotel is an anchor point for the business park and has proven to be a magnet for other key factors that turn it into a new economic center,” says Dauser. “The conference hotel is both gateway and flagship for Airport City.” The hotel features 2 ballrooms, 31 meeting and conference rooms for up to 5,000 people, 533 guest rooms, and is the largest 4-star hotel in NRW. The hotel building, with its sophisticated architecture, is an optical extension of the airport’s terminal building, and also features a construction that connects it physically to the terminal. The MARITIM, along with other airport-based conference hotels, such as the Sheraton Hotel, were key in the development of the airport’s significance as a meeting and event location.
The Verein Deutscher Ingenieure – VDI (Club of German Engineers) chose the appealing and extraordinary Airport City as the location for its headquarters at the end of 2005 and moved its main office there in summer 2008. The VDI Buildingfeatures (12,500 sqm of gross floor space) and is the workplace for more than 500 employees. VDI conducts 650 educational events and workshops on 300 topics each year.
Another company that chose to invest in Airport City is Züblin Development GmbH. It completed and marketed the first administrative building Airport I with 6,370 sqm of gross floor space and underground parking as early as 2007, and was able to win radprax, an X-ray and high-tech medical institute, as a major tenant which has 2,200 sqm. The location’s appeal and the great success in attracting tenants inspired Züblin to start another construction project, a similar building of 7,100 sqm of gross floor space, called Le Ciel, which was completed and sold in 2008. This building also was successful in renting quickly. Tenants include the global tax consulting firm WTS AG on two floors.
This success led STRABAG Real Estate GmbH, formerly Züblin Development GmbH, to complete yet another project in Airport City, called Airport Gardens, by mid-2010 and sell it by 2012. The building’s gross floor space is 14,400 sqm, and most of the building is now rented with only a few spaces still available.
Gottfried Schulz, a group of companies, constructed a premium car dealership on 7,750 sqm at Airport City. The largest Porsche Center in Germany opened there in November 2008, displaying the car manufacturer’s entire product range on 2,500 sqm of show space.
The Wiesbaden-based company CFI Conzepte für Immobilien completed, sold, and rented two buildings in 2008, Airport Office I and II. The developers were able to secure several interesting tenants for their location.
Airport Office III is yet another project that CFI developed at Airport City, a six-story office building with 5,400 sqm of gross floor space, and the building has been occupied by Bochum-based GEA Group Aktiengesellschaft.
The ProjektentwicklungAIRGATE in Düsseldorf GmbH & Co. KG built the prominent administrative building AIRGATE, featuring about 5,000 sqm of gross floor space, in 2009 and sold it in 2011. The administrative building has been rented to, among others, an internationally renowned architectural firm, a corporate consulting firm, and an international attorney’s office. Along with the MARITIM Hotel, the seven-story piece of real estate represents the gateway to Airport City.
The firm Hochtief Projektentwicklung GmbH constructed an administrative building with 11,500 sqm of gross floor space and ultra-modern workspaces for the Düsseldorf location of SIEMENS AG in 2010. The workspaces mirror in different shapes and the office operates a paperless environment. Round about six hundred employees have been working there since October 2010.
South of the VDI Administrative Building, the IMMOFINANZ Group completed a spectacular office building called Panta Rhei at the end of 2013. The building facade’s flowing shapes are inspired by the course of the River Rhine and represent a strong identification with Düsseldorf. A total space of 9,600 sqm of gross floor space means much room for bringing modern work ideas to life. Meanwhile, the building is fully leased.
Adjacent to Airport Gardens, the firm Dr. Greve Bau und Boden AG, Hamburg plans the construction of administrative building Airpark, featuring 13,500 sqm of gross floor space. The building permit has been issued, and construction is set to begin shortly.By the middle of 2015 the mfi (Management für Immobilien AG) will set up its new office on 5,000 sqmoffice space.
The construction for the fourth project by STRABAG Real Estate GmbH was completedin 2014 – an administrative building called KB4, which features about 4,800 sqm of gross floor space and is located between the Porsche and Siemens buildings.The main tenant of 60 percent of the total area is the Gerresheimer AG, which relocated from the banking district to the airport.
500 employees moved into the new Headquarters of the Düsseldorf Airport GmbHat the beginning of 2015. The six-story building features about 15,500 sqm of above-ground gross floor space as well as an underground garage with 220 car and more than 60 bike parking spots. The firm Slapa Oberholz Pszczulny (SOP I Architekten) conceived the project, the company Hochtief Soultions AG won the contract for the new construction.The headquarterswerebuiltaccording to the guidelines of The German Sustainable Building Council (Deutschen Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen – DGNB) and awarded with a platinum certification. The building was completed at the end of 2014.
Two more construction projects were completed at the end of 2015. One was the project by investor AirView Düsseldorf GmbH, which builta second building of the “AIRGATE” type, however with lighter facade. Just like they did for AIRGATE, renowned architectural firm Chapman Taylor conceived AirView. The planned gross floor space is about 5,450 sqm. The high-quality offices are almost fully leased.
Moreover, a 4,460 sqm site was sold to STRABAG Real Estate GmbH. STRABAG constructed a building named AERO – conceived as a counterpart to office building KB4, with the same amount of gross floor space, about 4,680 sqm. Meanwhile, the building is fully leased. The tenants are Lumesse GmbH, Strabag and Züblin.
As well, two additional buildings were completed and occupied.
In third quarter of 2013, the construction site for the project titled AOFwas sold, as well. This was the fourth investment for firm CFI Concepte für Immobilien GmbH in the Airport City.The gross floor space of the seven-storey building is about 5,700 sqm. The building was completed mid-2015 and many successful leases have been achieved up until today.
In 2015, the FDI sold a total of three construction fields to investors. Consequently, in the near future additional office space will be available in the Airport City. Furthermore, the development of an “Airport Medical Center” in the vicinity of the terminal will complete the high-quality offer.
Airport – More than Air Traffic
Real estate developments present an important element in the corporate strategy for Düsseldorf Airport. The objective is development that is structured, environmentally friendly, and consistent, with core projects being Airport City and industrial park Lohausen. Lohausen is a business park of about 30,000 sqm. Flughafen Düsseldorf GmbH is consistently expanding its services around air traffic. For example, the non-aviation business is a significant growth segment. “We will continue to develop our offerings and products, and plan according to the needs of our clients,” says Dauser.
Düsseldorf Airport City at A Glance
Total SiteArea: / 232,000 sqm
Location: / South-west and next to terminal
Construction Period: / until 2018
Office Park
Gross Floor Space / B - Plan: / 230,000 sqm
Structures: / Up to 25,000 sqm
Development: / Flughafen Düsseldorf Immobilien GmbH
Building Construction: / Investors and owners
Completed Projects
Maritim Hotel Düsseldorf: / Opened: 12/2007
Airport I: / Completion: 2008
Le Ciel: / Completion: 2008
Airport Office I: / Completion: early 2008
Airport Office II: / Completion: end of 2008
Airport Office III: / Completion: mid 2009
VDI-Center: / Completion: 2008
Porsche Center Düsseldorf: / Completion 2008
AIRGATE: / Completion 2009
Siemens Administration: / Completion: 2010
Airport Gardens: / Completion: 2010
Panta Rhei: / Completion: end of 2013
KB4: / Completion: end of 2014
FDG Headquarters: / Completion: end of 2014
AirView: / Completion: end of 2014
AERO: / Completion: end of 2014
Under Construction:
AOF: / Completion: mid 2015
AirPark: / Completion: mid 2015
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