Austrian steel group Voestalpine sold the Areal Bohler site in Düsseldorf-Heerdt, Germany for €156 mln with US real estate investor Jamestown acting as adviser to the investor.
Voestalpine plans to use the proceeds from the sale to boost its core business and invest the freed-up funds in further technological innovations and future projects.
Built in 1914 as a steel site with forge furnaces and rolling mill, the large brick production halls and the chimney visible from afar contribute to the charm of the site.
The site at Hansaallee 321 consists of 40 buildings with around 125,000 m2 of usable space on the 230,000 m2 site, with 18,500 m2 used as trade fair and event locations, receiving over 200,000 visitors a year.
With the exception of a 10,000 m2 hall, the site is fully leased to around 180 companies.
As part of the deal, Voestalpine has leased 34,000 m2 of office, production and hall space, making it the largest tenant with almost 30% of the total leasable space.
Other large tenants include Broich Catering and Rheinriff, which will soon open one of the world's largest indoor surfing halls, covering 6,000 m2, with six beach volleyball courts and a modern conference center in addition to a nine-meter-wide standing surf wave.
The new owner plans to make the site more sustainable by expanding the photovoltaic network and planning storage of generated energy in hydrogen for the sustainable heating of the large industrial buildings.
In addition, infrastructural expansions such as the construction of a parking garage for the exhibition halls and the expansion of the gastronomy district are to follow.
Jamestown arrived in Europe in 2018 to acquire and manage large-scale, historic industrial, adaptive reuse projects. Its first acquisition in Germany was Schanzenstrasse, acquired in 2020.
