(Essen, 10.09.19). New land is not always needed. Despite local politicians rejecting the expansion originally proposed in the Ruhr Regional Plan, Wattenscheid-West commercial area shows how investment and carefully planned infill development can attract new companies to existing sites. More companies will soon be based there than ever before, reports Essen-based property agent Brockhoff & Partner.

High vacancy and outdated space. Just over five years ago, the outlook for Wattenscheid-West was poor. Targeted marketing has helped the approx. 35.5 ha site directly on the A40 rise like a phoenix from the ashes.

“Both the macro and micro locations of Wattenscheid-West are first-class. We have repeatedly made this clear to prospective tenants and helped successfully revive the commercial area. A good mix of traditional businesses, office and warehouse users, restaurants and leisure providers now enlivens the area, and they work very well side by side,” explains Eckhard Brockhoff, Managing Partner of Brockhoff & Partner.

The commercial park at Friedrich-Lueg-Straße 2-8 demonstrates that existing buildings can still appeal to modern tenants. Brockhoff’s Essen agency successfully sold it to a regional investor in 2018. The nine units on the site, with total lettable area of around 10,000 m², were refurbished and repositioned.

Additional leasing facts: the site at Burgstr. 15-19 covers 19,648 m². Its existing buildings provide 4,772 m², and the three planned halls include a 700 m² unit. Gouda Refractories BV takes approx. 500 m², scheduled for completion in December 2019. The remaining approx. 500 m² is available. Existing units are let to DGB GmbH (approx. 1,840 m²), Vonovia (1,902 m²) and Picture People (approx. 1,030 m²). Other lettings include CAMPWERK e.K. (approx. 1,335 m² at Fröhliche Morgensonne 6), Fronttool (approx. 418 m² since January 2016 at Schlaraffiastr. 1) and Medilog (approx. 220 m²). The Friedrich-Lueg-Straße 2-8 park was sold in 2018 and has nine units and approx. 10,000 m², including Fit X, Trink&Spare and Fressnapf. Feld 4 is another successfully let commercial park.