Panattoni Celebrates Groundbreaking for the Business Park City Dock Essen

Panattoni, the leading project developer for industrial and logistics properties in Europe, celebrated the groundbreaking for the construction of the City Dock Essen in North Rhine-Westphalia on January 19, 2022, with a symbolic ceremony. Among those present at the celebrations were representatives from Panattoni and the general contractor Goldbeck, as well as Andre Boschem, the managing director of EWG – Essener Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft mbH, and the first mayor of Essen, Julia Jacob.

(Hamburg/Essen) The modern business park City Dock Essen is being developed in the center of the metropolitan areas of Oberhausen, Gelsenkirchen, and Bottrop on a site of approximately 22,290 m², which was formerly used as a training center. The City Dock Essen will comprise 10 units in two buildings with a height of 8 m UKB and rental spaces starting from 1,300 m². The business park is located opposite the existing Panattoni Park Essen and in close proximity to the city center of Essen and the Essen harbor. Additionally, it has excellent connections to the federal highways A42, A40, A52, A2, the federal roads B224 and B223, as well as the local public transport network. The Essen-Bergeborbeck train station is approximately 1.5 km away. In the interest of sustainable and energy-efficient development, Panattoni aims for certification according to the DGNB Gold Standard during construction.

“With the City Dock Essen, an innovative business park is being created on a former brownfield site in the heart of the Ruhr area, which, with its modern spaces and convenient location just a few kilometers from the city center, offers optimal conditions for numerous companies. This underscores the significance of Essen as a central economic location in the region and further enhances its value,” explains Thomas Kufen, the mayor of Essen.

The demand for spaces for medium-sized companies is high

EWG managing director Andre Boschem adds: “The demand for spaces for medium-sized companies from production, crafts, and trade, as well as for start-ups, remains unbroken in Essen. Therefore, I am pleased that Panattoni will provide these companies with an additional offering through the City Dock.”

With the concept of “City Dock,” Panattoni presents an innovative solution for the development of commercial spaces in urban locations, targeting a wide range of users with different business models. In particular, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), manufacturing industries, crafts, trade, and start-ups benefit from the demand-oriented usability and constant expandability of the spaces, as well as excellent connectivity and infrastructure. Due to the flexible usage options of the spaces, which can be modularly expanded or combined in terms of size and layout, tenants have the opportunity to design the spaces themselves.

Fred-Markus Bohne, managing partner at Panattoni, comments on the start of construction as follows: “With today’s groundbreaking, we have reached an important milestone in the development of the business park in Essen. We are pleased to offer an innovative concept for urgently needed commercial spaces in an outstanding location with the City Docks. The economic location of Essen, with its balanced mix of industries in the heart of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, offers attractive and sustainable growth opportunities for a wide range of users.”

Completion in mid-2022

This development is one of a total of eight City Dock projects that Panattoni has been realizing since 2019. In addition to the City Docks at the locations of Berlin Spandau, Falkensee, and Marzahn, the developer is also creating four more in Kirchheim, Hilden, Hanover, and Leonberg. Panattoni expects the completion of the City Dock Essen in mid-2022.

Photo: © Panattoni / Image caption: Head of Business Parks Mike Evers, First Mayor of the City of Essen Julia Jacob, Managing Director of EWG – Essener Wirtschaftsförderungsgesellschaft mbH Andre Boschem