Successful handover on the Neckar: neska moves into Panattoni Park Mannheim Ost

• Panattoni hands over multifunctional production and logistics property on schedule on 30 July 2021 in Ladenburg near Mannheim
• HGK subsidiary neska moves into 54,000 sqm of logistics space
• Largest revitalisation project in the Rhine-Neckar region completed after about two years

Panattoni, the leading project developer for industrial and logistics real estate in Europe, handed over Panattoni Park Mannheim Ost in Ladenburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany on schedule on 30 July 2021 to neska Schiffahrts- und Speditionskontor Gesellschaft [neska Shipping and Forwarding Office], a company in the HGK Logistics and Intermodal business sector of HGK Group. The handover ceremony was attended by representatives of neska and Panattoni, the deputy mayor of Ladenburg, and the local press.

The neska location Mannheim is moving into three warehouses with a logistics space of approx. 54,000 sqm, plus approx. 3,000 sqm of office space as well as 152 car and 24 truck parking spaces outside. The usable height is 10 m (to bottom of girders). A modern high-bay warehouse will be integrated into the building and will be operated by semi-automated narrow-aisle trucks.

When developing Panattoni Park, the developer, along with the HGK Group, highly valued sustainability. Thus, all three warehouses rose according to the Gold Standard of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) – an application for Platinum certification has been submitted. Furthermore, neska will equip about 75% of the roof area with a photovoltaic system by 2022 in cooperation with HGK affiliate RheinEnergie. For controlled drainage of surface water, Panattoni laid a 700 m long direct discharge to the Neckar, which is equipped with special filter systems, and the developer also built a lizard habitat of around 3,000 sqm to protect a lizard species that had settled locally.

The system was implemented especially according to regulations for handling water-polluting substances of water hazard class 3 and permits neska to expand its business in the future to storing and distributing chemical products, such as paints or disinfectants. Additional cooling units furthermore also permit, for example, storage of sensitive medical technology products.

“We are pleased to be able to move into the new property just one year after the joint ground-breaking ceremony, despite the challenges posed by the corona pandemic. We have already trusted Panattoni in the past, and the collaboration worked perfectly this time, too,” said neska Managing Director Markus Krämer at the time of the handover.

Alen Petrusic, General Manager of the neska branch in Mannheim, commented on the handover: "The Rhine-Neckar region is strongly characterised by companies in the chemical, pharmaceutical and medical technology sectors. With this facility, we can now provide highly flexible top-quality logistics services.”

With the realisation of the logistics centre in Ladenburg, Panattoni has successfully completed what is currently the largest revitalisation project on an established industrial site in the Rhine-Neckar region. Until 2016, the approximately 100,000 sqm area was used by a manufacturer of cleaning products and household goods. In cooperation with the municipality and local industrial companies, the Panattoni Park Mannheim Ost was developed from this site. The revitalisation phase of the demanding area lasted almost two years. The demolition phase alone took 120 days. One of Germany's largest excavators was used to demolish the existing buildings, which were up to 30 m high. The construction phase of the three newly built industrial warehouses took place between 2020 and 2021.

“For Panattoni, the special combination of an attractive location and infrastructure justified the increased effort involved in the revitalisation and the challenging demolition work. We are all the more pleased to be able to hand over the property to the new user on schedule and would like to thank everyone involved in the project for the successful collaboration,” says Fred-Markus Bohne, Managing Partner at Panattoni.

The brokerage firm Colliers International was responsible for marketing at the Ladenburg location. The tenant neska was advised by Baumüller & Co. on the lease.